Agriculture
In relation to comments made by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development at the Presidential Imbizo in Paarl on 19 May:
Whether he is aware of the case to which Deputy Minister Skwatsha referred where a farmer allegedly raised the price of his farm from R5 million to R90 million upon learning that it was targeted for land reform; if so, what are the relevant details;
- whether his Department is aware of any other instances in the province of farmers inflating the prices of their farms beyond market prices when those farms are targeted for land-reform projects; if so, what are the relevant details;
whether the inflation of farm prices in connection with land reform is a trend that his Department is aware of; if so, what steps is his Department taking to address this?
21. (1) No, the department is not aware of these allegations.
(2) The information and reasons for the purchase or not of farms are not shared with the department. The final decisions for land transactions are made by the DALRRD who carries the constitutional mandate.
(3) The department has no factual information in this regard.
