Berseba Constituency farmers called for a review of idle resettlement farms as limited grazing land put pressure on communal farmers.

They voiced these concerns at a recent town hall meeting with ||Kharas Governor Dawid Gertze.

Farmers have raised concerns that limited communal grazing land is under increasing pressure, with some farmers keeping hundreds of livestock on the same land.

They stressed that this affects farmers who are trying to build their farming operations and questioned why some resettlement farms are lying unused at the expense of active farmers in need of land.

Farmer Hendrik Syster shared that "I sit with someone who has 700 or 500 livestock on communal land. That brings the drought closer to me, and I face the effects of drought much faster as a young farmer who is still farming on the land. Now, some people could also be provided with resettlement farms so that young farmers who are already farming can also have an opportunity to stand where other farmers are standing."

Another farmer, Willem Jossop, said, "Most communal farmers are being forced by land and grazing areas to give up farming, and there is so much less done on communal lands to bring many more communal farmers."

Erich Riekert also farms in the Berseba constituency. He questioned how many resettlement farmers occupy the land allocated to them and are making use of those units. "And what are you guys doing about it? We have a significant problem with land; we urgently need more land. What are you guys doing with these resettlement farmers who are not using the farms?"

||Kharas Governor Dawid Gertze acknowledged that the issue requires attention. "I believe there are numerous aspects that need to be reviewed. While this may be a general concern, when it becomes specific to us in the south, it needs to be examined and adjusted to address the challenges we are facing. It is probably not a favourable situation, but for me, it is certainly not the right one. We have farms that have been lying idle for years, and this requires a process to reverse the situation—returning to the Ministry and reaching out again. These are the administrative challenges we must focus on."