SOUTH AFRICA: LAND OWNERSHIP REFORMS CONFERENCE

Описание: (1 Sep 1995) English/Nat

South African President Nelson Mandela has been attending a special conference to debate the thorny issue of land ownership reforms.

His government of national unity is trying to perform a delicate balancing act over land.

It is caught between making too many concessions to worried white farmers and giving too little to black voters.

A little more than ten percent of South Africa's land is arable and for decades white farmers have owned the greater part.

Since South Africa's historic multiracial democratic elections last year, the scramble for land has been hotting up as more and more black people are demanding their share of farm land.

White farmers are increasingly nervous amid government debate about how land should be redistributed to the disenfranchised.

President Nelson Mandela this week (Tuesday) met a high-level delegation of white farmers.

Mandela said he was eager to address their fears that government policies would destabilize commercial farming in South Africa.

SOUNDBITE:

"I don't have to say that farmers form a very important constituency. They are crucial to the economy of the country and we don't want them to have such concerns as to disrupt the agriculture industry.

SUPERCAPTION: Nelson Mandela, South African President

However, Mandela, who has been criticised recently for pandering to white fears, stressed his commitment to redressing past imbalances.

SOUNDBITE:

I did stress to the union that they must remember I represent a majority party which put us into power on a certain mandate that we should better the lives of our people.

SUPER CAPTION: Nelson Mandela, South African President

As Mandela's words echoed concerns of the landless majority, the Government of National Unity still faces the problems of appeasing white fears.

They worry their land will be taken away in order to meet black aspirations to land ownership.

SOUNDBITE:

"Right now we are experiencing problems with so called redistribution of the land. It worries the farmers a lot on what is going to happen whether their land will be taken away from them. If land will be redistributed or taken away on what basis will it be done."

SUPER CAPTION: Japie Grobler, Farmer

The debate over land promises to be a concern for both those who have it and those who don't.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...