Land redistribution in south africa commissioned report for high level panel on the assessment of key legislation and the. Mapping anc policy development on land and agrarian reform since. Government will at all times act in the best interest of our nation. The challenge of poverty is a disturbing reality in south africa. In each of these countries the process of land reform is incomplete. Land ownership and land reform in south africa ngo pulse. Addressing shortcomings of land tenure reform in customary. The need for the current land reform programme arose from the racially discriminatory laws and practices which were in place for the largest part of the twentieth century, especially those related to land ownership. Budgets for land reform have generally been around 1% of the national budget, and have fallen from a peak of 1. The reason that customary land tenure reform has been a nonstarter in the land reform process in south africa is because of a mismatch between the paradigm or underlying theory informing development on the side of the state and the land rightsholders.
The need for land reform south africa suffered a long history of colonization, racial domination and land dispossession that. The natives land act of 19 engineered the poverty of. South africas land tenure reform programme in the former. South africas land reform in historical perspective. It is a fact that 79% of land in south africa is privately owned, but a large portion of this ownership is in the form of trusts, companies and traditional authorities, only 39% can be traced to private individuals. We argue in favor of allowing renting out redistributed land but restricting sales of such land. Achieving sustainable land reform through partnerships. The focus of the paper is the land redistribution program, but it touches briefly on restitution and tenure.
Land reform in south africa was established by the government with the view that redistribution of farmland would make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation. When we start unpacking why land reform is necessary, some people say it is because the majority of south africans were disenfranchised and disempowered through years of colonial conquest, segregation and apartheid. The planned reform will unlock economic growth by bringing more land in south africa to full use and enable the productive participation of millions more south africans in. Land reform and poverty alleviation in south africa a paper presented at the hsrc conference on land reform and poverty alleviation in southern africa, 4th5th june 2001 pretoria dr. Land reform is probably one of the most difficult domestic policy issues to be dealt with by zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. Land reform in south africa is sinking nelson mandela foundation.
South africa confronts a legacy of apartheid the atlantic. Three case studies from limpopo province is my own work. Communityintegrated gis for land reform in south africa. South africa has made world headlines as the most unequal country. A political economy of land reform in south africa ruth hall land reform is one way in which the new south africa set out to redress the injustices of apartheid and, by redistributing land to black south africans, to transform the structural basis of racial inequality. We are pleased that we were able to host such an event. Why land reform is a key issue in the upcoming election. The nature of the land question in south africa is inherently complex. Land reform in south africa konradadenauerstiftung. Land settlement and agriculture in mopani district, limpopo, 19th century to 2015 michelle hay a thesis submitted to the faculty of humanities, university of the. The goals of land tenure reform include the establishment of coownership rights for groups and communities living in the. The report attributes the persisting inequalities to the manner in which land is owned, managed and transacted. Case studies of recent reforms world bank documents. Diagnostic report on land reform in south africa commissioned report for high level panel on the assessment of key legislation and the acceleration of fundamental change, an initiative of the parliament of south africa institute for poverty, land and agrarian studies university of the western cape september 2016.
The challenges posed by land reform in south africa are complex and could potentially pose a threat to food security and political stability in the country if solutions benefiting all south africans cannot be found. Post settlement challenges for land reform beneficiaries. The book represents the first comprehensive overview of land reform issues and challenges in south africa. Zimbabwe, on one side of the spectrum, is facing a crisis in democratisation due to its radical approach to land reform. In july 2019, cabinet approved the final report of the presidential advisory panel on land reform and agriculture. State and tribal land plus exhomelands not included in previous maps. Implementing land reform in south africas northern cape province.
This map of needs constitutes an area designated as a priority for land reform. During the first decade of democracy, land reform has fallen far short. Land reform key for south africa economic stability, anc. South africa land portal securing land rights through. It is believed to allow previously unemployed people to participate in the economy and.
Perceptions regarding land reform debate, progress made. Pdf communal areas in south africa invariably lack cadastre and. President donald trump touched off a diplomatic row with south africa by repeating an erroneous broadcast about land reform there. The preapartheid chapter of this dissertation briefly touches upon the main historical events that influenced and shaped the agrarian structure of the country that the. We also argue that land reform programs should be accompanied by agricultural extension programs and emergency income support programs. The progress of land reform in south africa 1994 2008. Summary of statecontrolled land per province in south africa. Pdf fit for purpose community mapping in south africa. Officials also note that 11 000 new smallholder farmers have been established since 2009, out of a target of 50 000. But in addressing the injustices of the past, we must not use race as a determinant of who must be beneficiaries of our land reform policies. In order to drive conversations on land reform in south africa, vumelana recently hosted the.
The native land act of 19 played a key role in the restriction of native people of south africa sa to occupy only % of the countrys land feinberg, 1993, louw, 20. The challenge of transformation and redistribution. Sa could model its land reform on the success achieved in. The historical context of land reform in south africa and. Resettlement is aimed at improving the lives of displaced or dispossessed previously disadvantaged namibians. All other sources, used or quoted, have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Introduction what is going wrong in south africas postapartheid land reform programme, and how can its failings be addressed. South africas ruling party will accelerate the transfer of land to the black majority to help reduce inequality and avert future protests. Finding a way forward for land reform in south africa. A pilot land reform programme was designed lund, 1996 following more or less the guidelines of the marketassisted. What is going wrong in south africas postapartheid land reform programme, and. Land reform and housing availability in south africa are contentious. Dr pieter mulder has courted great controversy with comments that black south africans have no historical claim to land in the northern and western cape and also that blacks own a greater share of the countrys land than the government admits.
There are also instances of white farmers taking leading roles in creating post. Map of northern cape province showing the case study locations. Pdf on jan 1, 2017, r jankielsohn and others published radical land reform in south africa a comparative perspective. Our aim is to uncover the many different sources of land data and information in south africa and thus provide a basis to substantiate, refute or nuance the oftenrepeated rhetoric that there is a lack of land data.
This paper is an analysis of papers, reports and legislation that deals with land reform in south africa. As a result the land reform process in south africa has largely adopted the ideology and guidelines outlined earlier. Land reform is about more than just land article anna majavu jan 2020 on paper, the bino family of kowa formerly elliot, eastern cape, are a land reform success story. Land reform is an important political and economic topic in namibia. On land expropriation without compensation lewc, the panel proposed a policy shift towards using the provisions of the constitution of the republic of south africa of 1996 to expropriate land without compensation. Ta da the primary source of information in this report was obtained from the.
In the report, the panel calls for the expedition and refocus of land reform to address inequality and historical injustices. Rights, development, and the restrained state canadian journal of african studies, 38 3 2004. His comments come against claims that whites owned 87 percent of south africas land and that little progress has been made in. Land reform in south africa getting back on track may 2008 cde executive summary this is an executive summary of cde research no 16, land reform in south africa. Diagnostic report on land reform in south africa commissioned report for high level panel on the assessment of key legislation and the acceleration of fundamental change, an initiative of the parliament of south africa institute for poverty, land and. It argues that despite the considerable attention given to land issues in the region over the past twenty years, fundamental reform that shifts assets and opportunities in favour of the. The need for land reform south africa suffered a long history of colonization, racial domination and land dispossession that resulted in the bulk of the agricultural land being owned by a white minority. In south africa, land reform and rural development have been stalled and their significant role within broader socio. Land reform in south africa 275 the development facilitation act, 67 of 1995. Land redistribution in south africa parliament of south. The study astutely combines ethnographic and historical detail from in. South africas land reform programme, of which land tenure is one of three components, was officially launched in april 1997 with the publication of the white paper on land policy.
Current land reform challenges need to be fixed before. We hope it will stimulate interest in the fulllength report, in which the issues and recommendations briefly described here are discussed in depth. This paper provides an overview of land reform in south africa from 1994 to 2011. Sa could model its land reform on the success achieved in south korea. This restriction resulted in huge differences in land holdings between people of european descent, who occupied on average 1600 ha per person and native people, who occupied only 1. Even so, land reform remains an issue in namibia and the process does experience problems. The politics of land reform in southern africa edward lahiff. Land reform in south africa is a moral, social and economic imperative. But his understanding of land reform in south africa is not so different from that of another impressionable septuagenarian, the president of the united states. With this state of land information report we seek to provide an overview of existing data and information on key land issues. Diagnostic report on land reform in south africa parliament of. Land reform is necessary in south africa, but that is about the only issue regarding land reform on which there is consensus.
Twenty two years after the transition to democracy and the commencement of land reform, there is a great deal of lived experience to. Land reform has to, must take place in south africa. Agriculture, land reform and rural development south. And in the case of south africa, land reform has fallen far short of expectations and objectives in every respect. There is need to show who owns south african land and to track progress of land reform to fulfil section 255 of the constitution objectives to enable south african citizens access to land on equitable racial and gender basis. This paper examines the politics of land in southern africa and, in particular, current process of land reform in mozambique, south africa and zimbabwe. Land reform in south africa is the promise of land restitution to empower farm workers who now have the opportunity to become farmers and reduce inequality. Government will continue to accelerate the pace of land reform within the framework of the constitution of the republic of south africa, respective legislation and according to the rule of law. Less than one in 20 land reform beneficiaries have benefited from either comprehensive agricultural support programme casp grants or microagricultural finance institutions of south africa mafisa loans.
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