Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister and the hon House, thank you very much for this opportunity to participate in these debates. According to the land restitution process, persons and communities who had been dispossessed of their land after 19 June 1913, as a result of discriminatory laws and practices, are being given back that land.
Out of a total of 600 claims that were resolved a year ago, 380 were in favour of their claimants. The amount of land transferred to the claimants was approximately 264 000 ha at the cost of R53 million.
In my candid opinion this process of land restitution would save this country from falling into the same tragic situation into which our northern neighbours have fallen.
In the North West province research has shown that people were removed from land of high-potential soil and better rainfall to land of low-potential soil and less rainfall. This has resulted in those disadvantaged communities getting more disadvantaged through engaging in arable farming on land that was not suited for growing crops, but is being encroached upon by the Kgalagadi desert.
Our people are not only yearning for the restoration of their ancestral land, but are yearning to have land under their own title. The previously disadvantaged farmers are constantly being reminded that land for which they are yearning, would, if available, be sold at market-related prices. This is a matter of great concern for the emerging farmers. They contend that competing for land against their commercial colleagues in the open market would place them at a disadvantage and consequently the land would then continue to remain concentrated in the hands of their commercial colleagues.
The general trend of thought of the emerging crop farmers in the North West province is that all state land should be placed on sale to them, especially land that has been leased by black farmers for a number of years. The Government should then enable or empower them to purchase such land by means of an empowerment subsidy or some form of discount on the market-related price. This step would ensure an equal distribution of land to all the country's citizens.
The return of land to its rightful owners and occupants is not without problems and hitches. Many families who had been forcefully removed had built houses and spent their lifelong savings in those areas. Now the long- expected time of return to their ancestral land has dawned, but they are hesitant and wonder how they will manage to rebuild those houses in the new land of their forefathers. [Time expired.] [Applause.]