By Reneva Fourie
Last week fires raged through some farms in the Free State, the North West and the Northern Cape. The ravaging flames destroyed hundreds of thousands of hectares of crop, hundreds of livestock and wildlife, millions of rands worth of infrastructure and equipment, and left many unemployed and homeless.
The sources of some of the fires are attributed to deliberate acts of arson and there have already been arrests in this regard.
The USA and Turkey burn crops in Syria as acts of war. The “scorched earth” tactic, in which anything that is useful, including livestock and crop that took immense time and effort to nurture, is destroyed, seeks to dishearten, punish and deprive the enemy of food and supplies.
It is especially a sensitive tactic to use in South Africa as the English torched farms during the Anglo-Boer war, leaving many, particularly women and children, starving.
If, as alleged, some of the fires were deliberately ignited, it would be tragic and most unfortunate. No matter what our challenges are, we cannot go about viewing each other as enemies and we definitely cannot be perpetuating actions that are mostly used in conditions of war.
It is true that racism and the payment of slave wages continue to prevail in South Africa. But we cannot generalise and assume that all farmers are racist and exploitative.
Starting a fire on a farm is a foolish and thoughtless act as one cannot control its spread and impact. The resultant pain and damage inflicted by scorching farms could only serve to deepen tension and has caused immeasurable human, social and economic harm.
Not only were the acts of farm arson cruel, but they were also short-sighted and self-defeating. Covid-19 has taught us that the most important sector in any economy is the one that provides food. Quality health care and social distancing, while important, cannot be effective when people are hungry.
The agricultural sector contributes to our food supply. It is one of few sectors that can offer employment for the skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled. It provides raw materials to other sectors and it forms a critical component in the beneficiation value chain.
Though small, this sector is among the top contributors to the country’s gross domestic product and assists to generate foreign currency earnings. Destroying our farms are acts of self-sabotage.
South Africa’s greatest challenge is poverty. Its eradication requires food security. The eradication of poverty requires that we successfully drive structured land reform; broaden the productive base of the sector; expand its employment absorption capacity; and grow the agricultural sector substantively so that it exceeds its current less than three percent contribution to GDP.
South Africa’s capacity and potential in this regard is world-class. The optimal realisation of our potential however requires that we shift from an “us” and “them” approach, for we are in this boat together.
It is now 26 years since the collapse of apartheid - greater effort needs to be exerted by all to ensure that we coalesce better as a nation.
Wedge drivers should be rejected with contempt so that we row in unison instead of wasting time fixing the actions of those who seek to destroy this boat, South Africa, by poking holes in it.
* Reneva Fourie is a policy analyst specialising in governance, development and security and currently resides in Damascus, Syria.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL.