South Africa’s land issues have been contentious since the dawn of democracy. However, according to Hortgro’s Unathi Speirs, it is time to shift the focus from race and prioritise women.
“When and what have women ever benefited from the land question? Nothing,” said Speirs during a panel discussion on land reform at the two-day Farmer’s Inside Track Summit which concluded in Robertson, Western Cape today.
Without mincing any words, Speirs pointed out that gender inequality in terms of land ownership and rights, jeopardised productivity and sustainable development on Mzansi’s farmlands.
“We [find] ourselves in a political terminal that is created by misinformation and miseducation. Maybe we should move away from race and look at gender now and say as a woman, should I not be a priority?” she asked attendees.
Speirs is a director of Hortgro, the deciduous fruit industry body of South Africa. She has done extensive work for the European Union and United Nations all while building an impressive CV working across the globe.
‘No room for desktop farmers’
The Farmer’s Inside Track Summit involved a series of power talks, panel discussions and masterclasses presented by the who’s who of agriculture in the Western Cape.
Speirs also argued that land should be given to those who understand it and its complexities. She made a plea for farmworkers to be prioritised in the battle of land distribution.
Speirs also said that it was an injustice and a “slap in the face to see a desktop farmer” who sits in a comfy office somewhere in Johannesburg to be given land, over a farmworker who has toiled the land for years.
“There has to come a day where the farmworker becomes a priority in that choice,” she pointed out. “I think we need to keep people that have nothing to do with farming out.”
‘Stay out of farmers’ business’
Speirs said it was disheartening that farmers and land had been made pawns on the political battleground.
“The farming community does not fight. The people that set us up are people that are outside farming. Everyone who is beyond the farm gate is always attacking us or is in need of wanting our voice to pursue a particular political agenda.”
If you are in farming for the glamour think twice, Speirs cautioned.
“There is a need to demystify the elegance of farming. You will have to deal with cow dung, and you will have to deal with workers who need your support. There is a need for smart ideas that will see all of you succeed.”
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