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Land ceilings a 'political charade'

Johannesburg - Government's proposal to limit land ownership is a political charade, AfriBusiness said on Tuesday.

"The minister of rural development and land reform, Gugile Nkwinti's latest proposal to limit land ownership is as radical as the proposal to redistribute 50 percent of land to farm workers," AfriBusiness CEO Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg said in a statement.

"The proposal is a form of land-based affirmative action."

Read: Nkwinti in push for land ceilings - farms body

Jansen van Rensburg said if the proposal was to be approved and implemented, restrictions on land ownership would create a legal precedent.

"Such consent would leave room for government to reduce these restrictions even further in future. Land owners will then virtually have no legal remedy, as they would already have agreed in principle to restricted property rights," he said.

Nkwinti earlier in the month said private land ownership was a serious problem in South Africa.

Read: Govt set to implement ANC land decisions

Let the free market decide

He said there were people who owned more than 30 000 hectares of land in this country, spread across the country or concentrated in one area.

Jansen van Rensburg said the restriction of land ownership would jeopardise food security.

He said large agricultural companies such as ZZ2, McCains and Cargill would be forced to withdraw their investment in South Africa, and this would ultimately lead to the country producing less food.

"The free market system should determine patterns of land ownership. A free market process will ensure that land ownership becomes accessible to all of those who can and want to own land," Jansen van Rensburg said.

Now read: Farmers raise concerns on land reform
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