Emerging Farmers Kept Off Municipal Commonage Land for the Benefit of White Commercial Farmers

Small scale farmers on commonage land owned by the Hantam Municipality are up in arms about the awarding of a tender by the Hantam Municipality of Brandvlei. The tender committee of the municipality decided to disadvantage emerging farmers currently on the commonage land in order to benefit white commercial farmers. According to the minutes of the tender committee meeting of 29 September 2010 emerging farmers will only be allowed on commonage land if they farm together with white commercial farmers.
 
An example of this is the farm Driekop. The tender was awarded to M Kastoor (emerging farmer) on condition that she farms together with a white commercial farmer. Another example is the farm Remhoogte. It was awarded to two emerging women farmers on condition that they farm jointly with a disabled white commercial farmer.
 
Appeals for an urgent meeting about this issue were made to the Hantam Municipality by emerging farmers in the Regional Emerging Farmers Association and the Food Sovereignty Campaign.
 
As the Food Sovereignty Campaign we will resist these actions of the municipality that want to reinstate Apartheid in the region. We will evict commercial farmers from the commonage land.
 
For more information contact:
 
Rosina Secondt (task team convener)
073 2822465
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Patrick Steenkamp (Hantam task team representative)
083 528766 
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Katharina Demas  (Hantam task team representative)
083 4597885