THE government is giving the land reform programme a bad name by failing to honour sales agreements, says the Legal Resources Centre that has represented both farmers and claimants in the Land Claims Court.

The cash-strapped land department says it is battling to conclude all its sales agreements with farmers, yet a R268-million deposit is sitting in the lawyers' accounts. The department said it needed over R7 billion to conclude all sales.

Replying to a parliamentary question by DA MP Annette Steyn, Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti said that R267 992 825 - 50 percent of the total amount owed to farmers for land units - was languishing in conveyancers' trust accounts because the department could not pay the balance. His department also owed R1bn in post-settlement grants to land beneficiaries, Nkwinti revealed in another reply.

Henk Smith, a lawyer with the Legal Resources Centre, said various lawyers had had to resort to the courts to force the department to honour the payments.

"We find it astounding that we have to run to the courts to force the department to pay. Some of these agreements also have court judgments that the department should pay, but it is difficult to get the money."

Attempts to attach state property had proved fruitless, Smith said.

"We represent poor communities that have claimed land under the land restitution and redistribution programme. But a number of these purchases are not finalised, and it is a frustration. We are struggling to get the courts to enforce sales agreements and payments," said Smith.

"Every year the department promises to pay at the end of the financial year, but nothing happens. One would have thought that they would budget for this before making promises," he said.

Farmers were struggling to look after their farms and infrastructure while the deals hung in the air.

"The delays also frustrate the transfer of farms to claimants. Farms are left unproductive because the owners are waiting for payments. The department doesn't instil confidence in land reform and it is giving the programme a bad name," said Smith.

The department's director-general, Thozi Gwanya, said the agreements would be honoured as soon as the department had completed "prioritising" its budget.

He said the department considered most of the agreements invalid because they had not been signed off by the minister or senior delegated officials.

"Where there's a signed agreement there's no need to go to court. But most of these were simply agreements between farmers and junior officials. Any agreement needs the approval of the land commissioner in that province, or the minister, or the official delegated by the minister."

However, in April, the KwaZulu-Natal Land Claims Court ordered the department to pay four farmers R21m they were claiming for their three pieces of land after the department refused to pay, arguing that the agreements were not binding because they were made verbally.

Gwanya said the department had also refused to pay the remainder of the agreements until the land and property were re-evaluated.

"Some of the land and property have been vandalised during the sales process, and we have to ensure it is valued at the same price before making payment. If the property has been vandalised, we need to factor that in as well," said Gwanya.