Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, said in the next two weeks, government would issue advertisement notices of 896 farms totalling 700,000 hectares of under-utilised or vacant state land.
Minister of Agriculture Thoko Didiza. Picture: GCIS.
CAPE TOWN – Hundreds of thousands of hectares of state-owned land are now up for grabs for those who have the time and the resources.
That’s the announcement from the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza.
At a media briefing on Thursday, Didiza announced the process to be followed by members of the public in applying for available agricultural state land as part of the government’s contribution to the land reform programme.
She said in the next two weeks, government would issue advertisement notices of 896 farms totalling 700,000 hectares of under-utilised or vacant state land.
Didiza said this was in line with President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement in his State of the Nation Address to release state land.
“In terms of the provinces, Eastern Cape will have 43,000 hectares that will be released, Free State will have 8,333 hectares. In Gauteng, there won’t be any since we’ve released those already.”
Didiza said all beneficiaries who had been allocated state land and signed 30-year lease agreements would be subjected to a compulsory training programme.
Allocation will also be biased towards women, youth and people with disabilities.