Double whammy for Cape agriindustry

The Economic Freedom Fighters’ (EFF) newly tabled Parliamentary motion on land expropriation without compensation will be a big hurdle for farmers in the Western Cape – already under pressure after a threeyear drought. The province, which is South Africa’s main producer of export fruit, has seen a significant decline in investment into agriculture over the past year, according to Louw Pienaar, an agricultural economist in the Western Cape Department of Agriculture. “Recovering from this drought – once it is over – will take at least eight to ten years.” Alan Winde, minister of economic opportunities and agriculture, said when one had these kinds of discussions about land, automatically financial houses started to pull back.