Farmers leaving SA: report-- Two Thirds of commercial farmers have stopped farming since 1994

Farmers leaving SA: report
Apr 04 2011 08:56

Sapa

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Farmers leaving SA: report
Apr 04 2011 08:56

Two-thirds of commercial farmers have stopped farming since 1994, with with many going to other countries, according to a newspaper report.

Johannesburg - Commercial farmers were leaving South Africa in droves, The Times newspaper reported on Monday.

Farmers were leaving the country because of unbearable working conditions for neighbouring states such as Malawi, Democratic Republic of Congo and the Caucasian state of Georgia among others.

There were 120 000 commercial farmers in South Africa in 1994 and only 37 000 remained, which has led to SA importing some of the food it used to produce, said AgriSA vice-president Theo de Jager.

The country was now starting to import grains such as wheat. It was also on the brink of importing meat and poultry, which was being produced less and less in the country.

Farmers cited new laws, unionisation of farm workers, expensive water, electricity and other necessities, a shrinking supply of arable land, and the threat of land reform as reasons for farming in South Africa becoming unsustainable.

Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti's spokesperson Mthobeli Mxotwa said the new security of tenure bill was meant to "stop cruelty against farm workers".

"Workers get kicked off farms and dumped along the side of the road. The Land Tenure Act and Extension of Security of Tenure Act were found (to be) toothless - evictions continued unabated.

"We decided to tighten the new bill in order to give farm workers rights. By the way, we also extended those rights to land owners."


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British tourists robbed at Addo
2011-04-04 19:04

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Johannesburg - A spokesperson for the Eastern Cape police, Priscilla Naidu, says two British tourists have been robbed of possessions worth about R71 000 while staying at the Addo Elephant National Park.

Naidu said the tourists had been woken early on Monday by two men who threatened them with a crowbar and a rock.

They ransacked the tourists' chalet at the Elephant House bed and breakfast and fled with cellphones, money, clothing, music players and other items.

Naidu said the robbers were found a short while later in Nomathansanqa village. The stolen items were found in their house and in nearby bushes.

The tourists, both of them men, decided to return to the United Kingdom.

The robbers, both aged 23, will appear in the Addo Magistrate's Court on Tuesday on charges of housebreaking and robbery.


- SAPA

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