THE concept of willing seller, willing buyer remained the only viable option for land reform, the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) said yesterday.

"Whether we like it or not, there are no viable alternatives to the willing seller, willing buyer scheme," said Lionel Mtshali, IFP caucus leader in the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.

The party was commenting on a demand by delegates to last week’s land summit for the principle to be rejected because it has not delivered enough.

Mtshali said government’s aim to have 30% of agricultural land transferred to black people by 2014 was "ominous".

"It is estimated that 90% of farms handed over to emerging farmers are no longer productive," he said.

"If government reaches its target, we will lose as much as 29% of our current agricultural productivity. The consequences will be devastating."

Mtshali accused summit delegates of not considering the devastating effect of land grabs in Zimbabwe on agricultural productivity.

"The collapse in agricultural productivity following the ill-fated land grabs of 2000 in Zimbabwe, which have caused widespread famine, is something the land summit failed to consider."

He said the country should not go back to "apartheid-style forced removals or revisit any other form of land grabbing that has previously failed elsewhere".

This, he said, would not inspire investor confidence or promote production.

Mtshali said restitution alone would not help, unless it was accompanied by a viable programme of farmer education, training, resourcing, continued support and supervision.

"The IFP would like to see more farmers from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. But we would also like to see them productive and proud," the IFP caucus leader said. Sapa