AGRICULTURE NEWS - Farmers cannot be held solely responsible for historical events that resulted in the dispossession of land, Annelize Crosby, head of land affairs at Agri SA, told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday, 24 March.

Agri SA was one of several organisations delivering oral submissions to the portfolio committee on public works and infrastructure on the proposed Expropriation Bill, which would provide for certain instances where expropriation with nil compensation could be deemed appropriate to the public interest.

Crosby said Agri SA acknowledged that the apartheid-era dispossession of land caused deep emotional wounds and hardship.

“However, today’s farmers cannot be required to bear the burden of addressing [the apartheid-era] dispossession. It needs to be done in an orderly and sustainable manner that is also fair towards the current land owners.”

Read the full article here on the Caxton publication, Farmer's Weekly