Give a man a fishing rod
2009-01-15
THE final nail has been placed in the coffin of a farm which was supposed to turn the lives around of 74 former defence force members previously stationed with the Cape Corps. In 2003 these members formed Biz Afrika 1781 and the once profitable farm Kweekvlei, outside Wellington, was acquired with the help of a government grant and a Land Bank loan. Biz Africa, consisting of 74 shareholders, became the first BEE group in the Boland to own a farm as part of the government land reform initiative. But almost from the beginning the farm started to nose dive, with corrupt directors and other role-players, as well as endless infighting between members. In the eight years after Kweekvlei fell into their hands, it has been almost completely unproductive, with shareholders not capitalising whatsoever on their investment. And when the farm was eventually liquidated and sold, it was the directors, who had evidently failed miserably in their task to manage Kweekvlei, who were first in line to cash in on the sale of the farm. Kweekvlei is just one of the many examples of land reform that has gone very wrong. A farm is like any business that has to be run with hard work, knowledge and skill. It is clear that all the stakeholders of Kweekvlei had none of the above, and the powers that be who granted them the farm should be held responsible for the demise. This whole comedy of errors highlights the age old phrase - give a man a fish and feed him for a day, but give him a fishing rod and feed him for life.
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