The Limpopo farmer who has been at loggerheads with the government for 18 years over the ownership of the Nooitgedacht farm has finally bought it.

David Rakgase (79) has been farming on the leased land for 28 years but was taken from pillar to post while attempting to buy it for his family, notes TimesLIVE.

The beginning of the end of his long struggle came last year when the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) ruled that the government’s inability to sell him the farm was unconstitutional and compelled the Department of Agriculture to hand ownership to him at the price they initially agreed on – R621 000.

‘I’m still to finalise the paperwork, but it was confirmed that I now own the land. I’m so happy and look forward to farming without fear. My family and I have dreamt of this for so long, I’m glad we didn’t give up,’ Rakgase said.

Through the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development Programme he was loaned 50 Nguni cattle that he used for breeding purposes. At the time of his founding affidavit, the herd had increased to 147 cattle (the total number of livestock on the farm was 500 cattle, 30 pigs, 80 sheep and 130 goats).

Annette Steyn, the DA’s Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development spokesperson, said justice had prevailed.

‘Insofar as there are other farmers with similar stories to David Rakgase, the DA will not hesitate to assist these farmers,’ she said.

‘If the ANC government were serious about land reform and empowerment, this was a simple case to resolve, and empower a successful farmer. But, instead of fully supporting Mr Rakgase and honouring the sales agreement, the department did everything in its power to make sure that the land in question was not sold to Mr Rakgase at the price agreed,’ Steyn said.

Full TimesLIVE report