Land Reform: Approach It As A Business, Not A Project

While many land reform projects across the country have failed, Siyazama Klipland Boerdery, a BEE company in De Doorns, is testimony to how projects can succeed with the right attitude. Shareholder and managing director, Alec Abrahams, spoke to Jeandré van der Walt.

To be successful, don’t treat a land reform farm as a project. It’s a business, and as the owner, you shouldn’t look for handouts. So be on the lookout for profit-making opportunities and ways of providing high levels of employment. This is according to Alec Abrahams, managing director of Siyazama Klipland Boerdery, a BEE company in De Doorns in the Hex River Valley, Western Cape.

For Alec, acquiring Siyazama Klipland was the realisation of a long-held ambition after years of encouraging youngsters to become entrepreneurs.

“I obtained a B. Com, then taught accounting at a high school. But owning my own business was always my dream,” he recalls.

This opportunity presented itself 12 years ago when the late Niel Jordaan’s farm, Klipland, come onto the market at a fair lease. Alec and his wife, Charlene, joined up with six others – Vaaltyn and Katriena Pieterse, Johannes and Maria Matabo, Liesbet Jack and Jersey Mxala – and approached Frans Hugo, a local farmer for guidance in obtaining the farm. Frans became their mentor and helped them make a success of the venture.

For two years, the group leased the 40ha farm on their own. Then the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) bought the farm for about R5 million as an empowerment initiative, and Siyazama has been leasing it from them as a Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) farm ever since. According to Alec, the beneficiaries of PLAS do not own the land: they are given long-term leases by government with the option of buying the land from the state after a certain period.

FROM SEEDED TO SEEDLESS

In 2006, about 80% of the farm was planted to seeded grapes.