As a land reform practitioner of several decades, my first reaction to the news that the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development was intending to release state-owned land on the basis of long-term leases was one of incredulity. 

Two weeks ago, City Press carried a depressing story on black farmers in Mpumalanga who stood to be removed from the state-owned land they were working.

With the government budget deficit expected to pass 40% this year, the African National Congress’s (ANC) options to source the coal needed to fuel its gravy train are dwindling. There should be little doubt that the new expropriation law is intended to make up for this insufficiency.

Violent attacks on South African farms have again been in the headlines, following the murder of a young farm manager in early October 2020.

In the midst of an unprecedented economic and health crisis one sector in our economy has outshone the rest. The agricultural sector expanded by almost 28% in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2019 and 15.1% in the second quarter.

Satellites have been sentinels in space, examining the earth since the 1960s to detect changing weather patterns, land use, deforestation, melting ice caps and fire patterns. They have also been used to identify atmospheric dust emissions.