Lives are lost daily and this is pushing all efforts to provide rightful owners of land an opportunity to rejoice and have dignity. This is according to Edwin Mahlapo, general secretary of the Landless People's Movement (LPM) of South Africa. Here is Mahlapo...

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He says the movement has fought a long battle with government to speed up the process of recognising rightful owners to certain farms. This has, however, been interrupted by die pandemic which is claiming lives daily. Mahlapo is of the opinion that government must work harder in its fight against the pandemic. Mixed reporting on identifying positive cases is a great concern. He says South Africa must, however, as a nation learn to live with Covid-19 which is a reality. 

As a result the country is hit hard by poverty, a lack of food and jobs. He says this is a time where people must have land on which they can farm and produce food that they can eat. 

Together with that black and white farmers must work together and a non-racist country is needed. People must accept each other and do away with colour stigmas as this is a time to bring forward positive history lessons, especially taking into account the role that commercial farmers play in producing food. They are providers and government must support more ventures between black and white farmers towards sustainable agriculture. 

He says people must learn from each others success stories and it is time government and farmers join hands and strive toward a successful program'me on food production for rural areas which are hit hard when it comes to poverty.

The Landless Peoples Movement of South Africa is a social movement that is fighting for Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa, especially in rural areas. LPM is a member the World Peasants Movement called La Via Campesina.

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