A record number of white farmers have put their land up for sale as the government has been accused of earmarking almost 200 farms for seizure from their white owners as the chair of the African National Congress said the state should take land from those who own more than 12,000 hectares. As Ryan Martinez writes for PlanertFreeWill.com, tensions among the country’s white farming community have been rising since the election of Cyril Ramaphosa who assumed office earlier this year and committed his African National Congress (ANC) to land expropriation. 'You shouldn't own more than 12,000 hectares of land and therefore if you own more, it should be taken without compensation,' ANC Chairman Gwede Mantashe, who is also the country's mines minister, told News24 in an interview published on Wednesday. Therefore, if you own more it should be taken without compensation.” “People who are privileged never give away privilege as a matter of a gift,” he continued. We shouldn’t be misled by those who sing Kumbaya while the state is planning to expropriate property.”

AgriSA has labelled Afriforum’s decision to release the list as “irresponsible” and inflammatory” dying “cursory background research” showed several inaccuracies, including that a number of farmers were joint ventures co-owend by black people. The South African government has now started seizing land from white farmers, initially targeting two game farmers in the northern province of Limpopo after talks with the owners Akkerland Boerdery broke down over a huge differences in its estimated value. The ANC’s leader also has recently argued that pure expropriation is allowed anyway now “in the public interest.”

According to the local City Press in South Africa, the Akkerland Boerdery wants 200 million Rand for the two pieces of land (about $13.8 million), as it had been assessed in 2011. Section 25 of South Africa’s current Constitution allows for land seizures with compensation, but the City Press reported that the ANC-dominated government had drawn up a list of 139 farms it planned to seize “to test out” that provision.The Akkerland Boerdery was on that list, which the government denied was authentic.
The South African government begins the process of seizing land from white farm owners.