JOHANNESBURG,
April 22 (Xinhua) -- The South African government is speeding up its reform
plan to redistribute land to rightful owners, the official Bua news agency
reported on Sunday.
"The
government has set a target of redistributing 30 percent of commercial farmland
to historically disadvantaged communities by 2014, we are moving towards
achieving this by speeding up the process through negotiated settlements with
the private sectors," Bua reported, citing Rural Development and Land
Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti.
The speech
was made at a ceremony marking the restoration of over 12 thousand hectares of
land to a community in the eastern province of Mpumalanga.
The
minister said the government's land reform aims at promoting the sustainable
development of the agriculture.
Agriculture
plays a major role in the South Africa's economy, and South Africa has a broad
and well-developed agriculture.
However, as
mining and manufacturing industries expanded at a faster pace, agriculture's
share in the GDP declined.
The
minister urged the beneficiaries of land redistributors to make full use of the
invaluable assets to produce more grains instead of leaving them idle.
"Getting
your ancestral land back is a great milestone, but once the government gives
you a piece of land, you must use it productively to fight poverty and
unemployment," said the minister.
The
chairperson of the community said they are committed to make the piece of land
valuable, including seeking the possibility of turning the land into a tourist
attraction destination, according to Bua report.
The
minister was satisfied with the progress made in the land redistribution in
Mpumalanga.
There are
16 land claims to be finalized in the central province of the Free state, and
600 cases in the southern province of the Eastern Cape, said the minister.
Editor: Fang Yang
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