 The South African government has begun the process of seizing land from owners in cases where the negotiation for compensation has stalled. Local newspaper City Press reports two game farms in the northern province of Limpopo are the first to be targeted for unilateral seizure after negotiations with the owners to purchase the properties stalled. Akkerland Boerdery, the company of property owners Johan Steenkamp and Arnold Cloete, demanded 200 million rand ($13.7 million) for the land, but is being offered just 20 million rand ($1.37 million). “Notice is hereby given that a terrain inspection will be held on the farms on April 5, 2018 at 10am in order to conduct an audit of the assets and a handover of the farm’s keys to the state,” a letter sent to the owners earlier this year said. Akkerland Boerdery obtained an urgent injunction to prevent eviction until a court had ruled on the issue, but the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs is opposing the application. "What makes the Akkerland case unique is that they apparently were not given the opportunity to first dispute the claim in court, as the law requires,” AgriSA, a union that largely represents white farm owners, said through spokeswoman Annelize Crosby. The seizures are intended to test the ability of the government to take land under existing laws, which the ruling African National Congress has previously stated is allowable if “in the public interest”. Afriforum, a civil-rights group representing the white Afrikaner minority, subsequently released what it claimed to be a leaked list of 190 farms “being circulated in the department”, inviting farmers to check if they were on it and asking them to get in touch “so that we can prepare for a joint legal strategy”. “We hope that the gravity of the state’s plans for expropriation is understood and that people will see through the dishonesty of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development.
– The South African government has begun the controversial process of seizing land from white farmers in cases where negotiations to purchase the plots have fallen through. Per Newsweek, two game farms in the country's Limpopo province will be the first ones taken under the order after their owners declined to sell for a government offer that was a tenth of the asking price. While South African authorities say they still intend to pay Johan Steenkamp and Arnold Cloete, the owners of the land, the equivalent of $1.37 million, the men had priced the land at $13.7 million. Per News.com.au, the farmers' landholding company, Akkerland Boerdery, was sent a letter in April regarding an audit of the land that would be conducted by the government. Akkerland Boerdery reportedly received an injunction to prevent their eviction, however the country's Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs has opposed the injunction. Should the seizures go through, it would reportedly be the first case of the government refusing to pay market value. Under existing laws, such a seizure is allowed only if it's in the public interest. Since the end of apartheid, the government has only redistributed land to black South Africans only from willing white sellers.