A sizeable contingent of concerned farmers attended the land expropriation public hearings in Mokopane, Limpopo, yesterday when they warned of job losses, food shortages and an economic crash should the Constitution be changed to allow for expropriation without compensation.

The Joint Constitutional Review Committee was in the province this week, consulting members of the public about expropriation without compensation, notes a Business Day report. A farmer who did not identify himself said he had told his employees before attending the hearings that they would lose their jobs if the government changed the law.

The farmers rejected President Cyril Ramaphosa’s assurances that the economy would not be harmed if expropriation without compensation was included in the Constitution.

‘When I heard Ramaphosa say we have to make these changes without affecting food security and the economy, I was laughing because it is not possible to rip out a cornerstone of a free market economy in SA. The next thing there will not be food,’ said the farmer.

Like many areas in Limpopo, Mokopane has a thriving agricultural sector which, along with mining, is the cornerstone of the province’s economy. Morné Mostert, the local government head of Afrikaner rights group AfriForum, told the hearings that section 25 of the Constitution gave the government power to provide underprivileged South Africans with the land. ‘The state should be truthful when it explains what the amendment is (about).

There are less restricted means to get what they want,’ he said.

Full Business Day report

‘If farmers' land is taken against their will, there will be a revolution.’ This was the stark warning from Valerie Byliefeldt, provincial leader of the National Conservative Party at yesterday’s Mokopane hearing, notes a News24 report. ‘If the government makes the change, then SA will see the most hellish revolution that South Africans have seen in their lifetime,’ Byliefeldt said.

Byliefeldt added that no farmer has ever stolen land and that Parliament should correct this narrative.

‘Us farmers bought the land and we paid hard. We paid in sweat and we bled for our land. The farmers have never stolen land.’

She said land expropriation without compensation did not need to happen because there was a lot of land, held by government, which could be given to the people. ‘Everyone in SA has the right to land, why take (land) from the farmers,’ Byliefeldt added. Her views were in the minority, though. Most attendees backed an amendment of section 25 of the Constitution. Several participants told the committee that there should not be a need to compensate farmers because they obtained the land illicitly and benefited from the land while its original owners suffered.

Full News24 report