September 19, 2007

Black or white farms - what do you prefer

I have asked a few rural families if the times when there were still the huge "white farms" where better, or if it is better now. These were all families that live on the land that formerly belonged to those "white farms". Of course, asking a few people does not provide a representative sample of the whole population. However, as I thought their answers were very interesting, I want to present them here.

Every single one said, he or she preferred the "old times" because:

1. It was a lot easier to find work in rural areas on the farms.

2. Farms that are now in the hands of black people only use a little part of the land they have and therefore offer less jobs ...

3. and usually pay the official wage, which is ridiculous because of the hyperinflation, whereas the little white farms that still exist (mostly reduced in size) would pay a more realistic wage.

I do not mean to be in favour of giving the land back to the whites or that it should still belong to the whites, but I do mean that something definitely went wrong in that land reform.

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