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Sharing farms with workers won't work - party

Johannesburg - The idea of giving farm workers half of the land they work on is ill-considered, the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) said on Monday.

Spokesperson Pieter Mulder said the proposal would not resolve the land reform problems in the country, but would instead destroy food security in the country.

"The proposal of Minister Gugile Nkwinti and the department of rural development and land reform that commercial farmers should give half of their farms to their workers is unworkable and ill-considered," Mulder said.

"When studying the proposals closely, it becomes clear that it originates from a minister and a department which has no understanding of the intricacies of modern commercial farming."

Rapport reported on Sunday that it was in possession of a document named "Final Police Proposals for Strengthening the Relative Rights of People Working the Land" which had been discussed with agricultural organisations.

The newspaper claimed that the proposal meant expropriating half of every commercial farm in the country and handing it over to farm workers.

Mulder said he did not know of any structure or government forum which had discussed the proposal or approved it.

"Black and white commercial farmers need certainty about property rights to their land to obtain loans in order for them to farm profitably. This plan takes this certainty away."

According to Rapport, the historic farm owners would retain half of their farms and the state would pay for the 50% taken for the workers.

The money would not be paid to the farm owners but into a trust aimed at investing and developing the farm for all its shareholders.

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