The Sunday Mail
Minister Mombeshora
The announcement by Government that it will start collecting land rentals from resettled farmers to, among other things, help compensate white former farmers has naturally drawn mixed reactions.
Lands and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora recently made the Cabinet-approved announcement.
Beginning this month, A2 farmers will pay US$3 per hectare per annum and a US$2 unit tax per hectare annually.
A1 communal farmers will pay US$10 per hectare yearly plus US$5 unit tax per hectare annually.
The rentals will be in addition to the US$1 land tax per hectare new farmers are already paying to rural district councils.
Some stakeholders feel that compensating white former farmers will restore Western investor confidence in Zimbabwe and encourage FDI.
On the other hand, some believe the white former farmers do not deserve to be compensated since they never bought the land in the first place. Many resettled farmers argue that the land in question is their birthright.
Nonetheless, the majority of the farmers we interviewed welcomed the rentals though they differed on how they should be collected and what the money should be used for.
Hendrik Olivier, director at the largely white Commercial Farmers Union has been quoted widely saying this development “could be very good”.
According to Olivier, a total of US$10 billion would be needed to compensate more than 4 000 white farmers whose land subsequently benefited 300 000 black families.
Mr Patrick Muvingi, secretary for marketing and publicity with Hippo Valley Productive Sugarcane Farmers Association, said the white former farmers had to meet certain obligations before any compensation payments – chief of which is to campaign for an end to illegal economic sanctions slapped on Zimbabwe by Western countries at the start of the Fast-Track Land Reform Programme in 2000.
“We have no problems with paying the rentals and the money being used to compensate white former farmers. As farmers, we must reason that the Government is under immense pressure. As such we must be prepared to sacrifice the little that we have for the sake of progress,” Mr Muvingi said.
“The white former farmers and some of the political parties that called for the imposition of economic sanctions must first make a commitment to have the sanctions they advocated for removed. As farmers, we will do our part, which is paying the rentals and the white former farmers must also do their part.”
Sugarcane farmers say the sanctions have restricted their penetration of international markets.
Mr Wonder Chabikwa, president of the Zimbabwe Indigenous Commercial Farmers Union, said the rentals were a positive move but said farmers must be given title deeds to the land.
“This is a very good idea. The farmers must then be given title to the land, otherwise the farmers would ask what they will be paying the rentals for. If the farmers pay the rentals, then they should be owners of that land,” Mr Chabikwa said.
However, Mr Chabikwa was unhappy with the way Government handled the rentals issue.
“Government must learn to consult farmers before making such important announcements. Some of our farmers were given farms that do not have any structures. Now the farmers are asking us whether they should pay for the developments that are not there. As leaders, we are struggling to provide the farmers with answers.”
The law says white ex-farmers can only be compensated for infrastructure and not for lost land.
Mr Chabikwa also said the rentals were on the high side because farmers faced several challenges, among them high input costs, drought and low producer prices.
“We are going to approach the relevant authorities with the intention of having the levies reduced otherwise the majority of our farmers will end up failing to pay the levies. We will sit down and hopefully come up with a solution,” Mr Chabikwa said.
Resettled farmers in ward 25 of Zvimba East constituency in Mashonaland West welcomed the levies, saying they would go a long way towards improving infrastructure.
“As farmers, we have no problems with the levies. We will always support Government efforts since the money will be used to build roads, clinics and other basic necessities. Recently, we had one of the major roads being rehabilitated and we are grateful to our councillor, Mr Ngoni Kanyasa for spearheading developmental projects,” said Mr Jairos Chikosi, a resettled farmer.
Farmers said if effectively implemented, the rentals could potentially stimulate production.
Other farmers are totally against compensating white ex-farmers.
“I do not have a problem with paying the levy. I am, however, not happy with the money being used to pay white farmers. Remember the whites never paid for the land in the first place,” said a farmer who requested anonymity.
Writing in The Herald, a Beatrice farmer Mr Prince Murimi echoed similar sentiments.
“I read the story on land rentals and tax with astonishment. Surely why tax the poor to compensate the rich? I don’t think we need the tax and rental, especially if it is meant to pay ex-farmers, who, not only abused black people, but got the land for free,” Murimi wrote.
The debate on the levies has been raging on social media with a section of the contributors insisting that the levies would force “lazy” farmers to be productive.
“The introduction of the levies is long overdue. Some farmers are holding on to land for speculative purposes. The levies will force them to let go idle land. Serious farmers who are in the business for profit will not oppose the tax,” wrote one contributor.
Mr Chabikwa defended the so-called lazy farmers.
“It is grossly unfair to call some farmers lazy. Farmers are facing serious challenges among them the lack of financial resources. In the past, farmers used to borrow money from banks with interest rates being pegged as low as two percent. The farmers would be required to clear the debts in very long periods of up to 25 years,” Mr Chabikwa said.
Mr Wilberforce Mhonda, an agricultural economist, said the land rentals were “very high”.
“The cost of farming is very high. Government is now milking the farmer, killing the goose that lay the golden egg in the process. Besides paying tax to local councils, the farmers also pay Zinwa, Zesa and Zimra. Government should support the farmer instead,” he said.
Mr Mhonda raised questions concerning the way the taxes are structured.
“There is need for proper land classification. These blanket rentals will cause a lot of problems. We have the issue of the different natural regions in which production per hectare differs. Some farms are located in prime land whilst others are located near vleis and mountains. The ministry cannot charge the same levies for the different farm locations,” Mr Mhonda added.
The Lands Ministry will collect the money and hand it over to Treasury for distribution.
The US$1 per hectare unit tax farmers were paying to rural district councils will also be collected by the Lands Ministry. Farmers already owe local authorities and Dr Mombeshora said those who failed to pay their dues risked losing their land.
