South African government defrauded on land sales

The South African government was often defrauded on land sales which was detrimental to commercial farmers' interests, Agri SA deputy president Theo De Jager said on Tuesday.

"The crisis in government is that very often it pays too much for land. This is detrimental to our own needs and interests. The question is how and why it happens," De Jager said after a meeting in Pretoria with South Africa's Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti.

In one instance, a Free State farmer who closed a deal for R8m received a letter from the department of rural development explaining it had to cancel the deal because it was unaffordable at R20m.

This meant that R12m would have fallen through the cracks, said De Jager.

It put pressure on the willing-buyer, willing-seller system, which was being re-evaluated by the government.

Calling for an investigation into all transaction conducted under this system, he said Agri-SA would not protect any farmers found to be involved.

"We also need the department to fish out those responsible," he said.

Nkwinti said his department was looking into having a valuer-general investigate where it had gone wrong.

He said the "huge price fluctuations" without explanation were of concern.