As long as the South African government pays the farmers "fair market value" for the land this is not different than what is done in the US. The government may take or "expropriate" any land you own whether you like it or not - you have no say in this - and they need merely pay you the "fair market value" plus some kinds of damages to the remaining property.

Generally in the US there will be a negotiating effort. But that isn't required and doesn't always happen. Six months would be a long time to drag out negotiations: when I had some land Taken recently I drug it out four months and that was about all they could handle.

On the surface I don't see the South Africans as doing anything that isn't done in the US. It certainly isn't what Mugabe is doing.

One does hope that they take care to ensure that the new owners are in fact competent farmers...