(Ecofin Agency) - State-owned company Sacfol is in talks with the government of South Africa over the acquisition of new forestry land, its chairman Lungile Mabece, told Business day. The talks which are at an “advanced stage” fall in line with the firm’s 2016-2021 corporate strategy.

While Sacfol intends to partner with Black-owned companies, it is still highly criticized by environment defense organizations for exploiting forest land. Mabece in response to the critics promised the firm would offer a win-win deal to land owners who provide their land titles.

“The company is working with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, the Land Claims Commission and affected communities to develop a settlement model,” he said.

Let’s recall that there are land claims on about 61% of the 187,320 hectares exploited by Safcol in Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.

Souha Touré