The Management Briefing is aimed at the top echelon of a company or organisation.
It identifies on a regular basis the issues and trends on the socio-political and security levels in Southern Africa of that specific month and their potential implications. These are issues and trends people on the executive level ought to take notice of.
The
future of commercial agriculture is inextricably linked to the issue
of “land reform”. According to available information,
South Africa has 122 million ha of land, of which 100 million ha is
considered agricultural land
and of which 82 million ha used to be in white possession. The goal
of land reform is to have 30% of farm land in black hands by 2014.
In accordance with the objective of 30%, some 24 million ha of land
will have to be transferred to previously disadvantaged people by
2014.
By 2009
the success of the land reform policy is under serious scrutiny.
Government and commercial agriculture have been at loggerheads since
1994. Government wanted a process of an “accelerated transfer
of land” and commercial farmers did everything to defend their
land rights. President
Zuma recently indicated that he would prefer a new and more
practical arrangement for the very often difficult settling of land
issues by the willing-buyer and willing-seller arrangement. His
newly appointed minister and deputy minister of agriculture have
largely been well received in the community of commercial farming.
New
faces, a
new attitude and old policies. What are the options for success? A
new situation demands new thinking and new concepts. The solution to
the “land reform problem” is more complicated than
anticipated. The problem has become multi-dimensional and a single
policy regarding the transfer of land indicates no solution.
The decision-maker
will have to accept that the environment from 2009 onwards will be
different from anything he or she has experienced up until now. The
expected changes will affect the quality of life which in turn will
impact on the whole range of decisions people regularly make.
The foreign visitor
and returning expat are very often confronted by sharp contrasts in
society: the road from the airport is lined with construction work,
massive shopping malls are under construction and new housing complexes
cover the roadside almost endlessly.People who left South
Africa some ten years ago will be
unable to recognize the old neighbourhood.
And then - it
is basically impossible not to realise that all the new housing
complexes are in fact security villages: people live behind high walls
with electrified wire on top and a security company on guard at the
front gate – with no sign of the South African police force.
The optimism
about South Africa’s democracy that was so apparent during the first few
years of Thabo Mbeki’s presidency has started waning since 2005. It has
been replaced by a spreading despondency about the capabilities of Government
and, therefore, the future.It
seems that somewhere deep down in society there is a severe system
imbalance; a certain dysfunctional quality that penetrates almost
everything. It is the purpose of this document to describe the system
imbalance which has paralysed society, its inner workings, penetration
of functional systems and possible outcome. What are the expectations
for the immediate future?
