Despite all the work done by Nelson Mandela and a current black President South Africa still carries the wounds of apartheid, the blacks are still the majority but remain largely in poverty while the white minority hold onto much of the wealth.

The government have spent years and lost of money with schemes to try and rebalance this wealth, one such scheme has involved buying land from white farmers, often above market price, and selling on at very large discounts to aspiring black farmers.

However, the country’s minister of land reform had some bad news. He said that around 30% of that farmland has been resold by black farmers, with large amounts going back to the white owners.

‘The government bought land and handed it over to aspirant farmers who then sold it again, in many instances back to the original owner.’

So, both sides are effectively able to play the government and turn large profits. The white owners sells, makes a profit and buys back the land lower than he sold it for! The black seller earns profit by selling higher than they paid the gov.

Of course you can see how this is extremely inefficient, however it’s not just playing the authorities. There are other reasons why black farmers are not holding onto the land.

Some studies have made claims that up to 90% of the new black owned farms fail. The main reason is inexperience and lack of education.

These people were never farmers in recent history.

This is where land giving policies often fail. People need to maintain and care for the land, not just own it! Maybe a scheme to employ the white farmers, work together or bring in education specialists with grants from the gov to make the farming work…. And of course, reselling policies need to be made a lot tighter!

What do you think?