Namibia' Land reform

[Little95]

Land reform 'part of the new Namibia'

July 24 2005 at 02:03PM

By Frauke Rschlau

Windhoek - Namibian farm owner Hilde Wiese appears resigned to the fact that she will have to leave the 4 000 hectare family farm she holds dear.

On Wednesday the country's land minister, Jerry Ekandjo, announced that the farm, Ongombo West, located about 50km north-east of the capital Windhoek, was to be transferred to government ownership.

"I don't want to say anything about it until negotiations with the government have been concluded," says Wiese, afraid that anything she says could be used to her disadvantage in hammering out the details of the deal.

'We have to accept that land reform is a part of the new Namibia'
The government, with plans to resettle disadvantaged Namibians on the land, offered her Nam$3,7-million (about R4-million) for the farm, $5,3m less than she asked for.

Namibia's farming community has reacted with mixed feelings to the announcement this week of what amounts to Namibia's first compulsory farm sale.





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The announcement has once again fuelled discussion about the future of the country's estimated 4 500 commercial farmers, most of them white. It was more than a year ago that the first farmers received letters requesting them to offer their farms to the government, lest they be expropriated.

No date has been set for the handover of Ongombo West.

Raimar von Hase, the president of the Namibia Agricultural Union, representing about half of the country's commercial farmers, remains pragmatic.

"Even if it is difficult due to emotional and economic reasons, we have to accept that land reform is a part of the new Namibia," he says.

People, he adds, simply have to accept that farmland in Namibia will no longer be dealt with according to the rules of the free market, and that new legislation only provided for payment according to the productive value of land.

"This is the challenge every farmer must face. Everyone has to decide for themselves whether they can realise their goals within the new parameters," von Hase adds.

The government of this vast south-west African country, which attained independence from South Africa in 1990, intends to purchase 4,8 million hectares of land for the resettlement of previously disadvantaged Namibians by 2010.

This is expected to translate into the acquisition of between 150 and 200 farms each year.

"The farmers will not lose their livelihood," von Hase said, attempting to allay the fears of those who believe there is no future for whites in Namibia.

Furthermore, he emphasised that Namibia was a country that was governed by a constitution, adding: "There is no indication whatsoever of developments that suggest a Zimbabwe-style scenario".

The chaotic land reform programme begun by Zimbabwe's president Robert Mugabe in 2000 led to an exodus of white farmers and widespread shortages of foodstuffs.

Nevertheless, von Hase is perturbed by the fact that the case of Ongombo West might have set a dangerous precedent. "I am worried about the fact that Ongombo was originally targeted because of a labour dispute.

"That should not be the basis for expropriation, because it could look like revenge."

To date around 40 000 people have been resettled under the state land reform programme.

A further 240 000 landless people are meanwhile still waiting to reap some of the fruits of independence promised 15 years ago. - Sapa-DPA