South africas land reform in historical perspective. Officials also note that 11 000 new smallholder farmers have been established since 2009, out of a target of 50 000. New land reform proposals in south africa posted on april 7, 2014 by piet le roux in what must read like something from a parallel universe to nonsouth africans and nonzimbabweans, for that matter, south africas department of rural development and land reform last week released its latest proposal for land reform. Dr john purchase, ceo of the agricultural business chamber, agbiz, examines current and planned developments in land reform. Smallholder agriculture and land reform in south africa.
It begins with a brief sketch of the historical background before outlining the main. He is currently working on agrarian movements in south africa. Challenges and opportunities for land and agrarian reform. The historical context of land reform in south africa and. New land reform proposals in south africa mises sa blog. The latest green paper on land reform2 was published on 16 september 2011 and is commonly referred to as the green paper on land reform, 2011.
In the case of the land reform pilot programme and the land reform support. Land redistribution has been a central plank of land policy in zimbabwe, namibia and south africa since their transition to majority rule. It is easy, at events like this, to roll out a wish list of what land reform should achieve and who it. This paper provides an overview of land reform in south africa from 1994 to 2011. 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. Introduction what is going wrong in south africas postapartheid land reform programme, and how can its failings be addressed. The budget for rural development and land reform cannot result in.
The perceptions of young south africans to the land reform. This chapter investigates the paradox of land reform programme and its quest to address challenges faced by the rural population in postapartheid south africa. Lungisile ntsebeza is an associate professor of sociology at the university of cape town and a chief research specialist in the democracy and governance research program of the human sciences research council. The goals of land tenure reform include the establishment of coownership rights for groups and communities living in the. Redistributive land reform in southern africa overseas. We are pleased that we were able to host such an event. But only 50% around 200 000 hectares of the land invested in has been harnessed for production. The fact that only percent of land in south africa is owned by black people must be addressed, he points out. Part two of a series of vocal warmup activities for drama classes are explored.
Land ownership and land reform in south africa ngo pulse. South africas land reform challenges market news, news. 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 witwatersrand, johannesburg, in fulfilment of the. It is these conditions, i argue, which can make agriculture and food production the once important rural economic activity it was in south africa. Timm hoffman university of cape town land use and land cover have changed signi. A shocking exposure containing intercepted documents, photographs, names, places dates, outcomes etc. So says the south african property owners association sapoa, whose members comprise 90 percent of the commercial property sector in south africa neil gopal sapoa chief executive officer says south africa needs a robust and balanced debate around land reform. The land reform programme of the south african government aims. The natives land act of 19 engineered the poverty of.
After 22 years, land reform has barely altered the. The 1994 pledge by the african national congress anc to transfer 30% of whiteowned agricultural land to black farmers has. Even so, land reform remains an issue in namibia and the process does experience problems. Southern africa regional assessment african union african development bank economic commission for africa this southern africa regional assessment study on land policy has been prepared by experienced land experts from the region and has benefited inputs from a wide range. The book represents the first comprehensive overview of land reform issues and challenges in south africa. Land reform a complete failure vink farmers weekly. As a consequence of this uncertainty, the panel of experts on the development of policy regarding land ownership of foreigners in south africa hereafter the panel was appointed by the former minister of agriculture and land affairs. Land reform in south africa began in 1990 under the leadership of the national party, which introduced its white paper on land reform in 1991. The bulk of technical assistance has been sourced in south africa with funds provided by the donors. Challenges in land tenure and land reform in africa. A comparative overview of experiences in zimbabwe, namibia, south africa and australia. 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. Ruth hall is a researcher for the programme for land and agrarian studies at the university of the western capesouth.
But there is very little clarity as to who owns what land in the country. Progress and challenges julie verhulp1, michelle denner2 1 chief directorate. 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. In southern africa and particularly south africa, debate rages about the notion that land reform itself is sufficient to redress a past history of inequity and a. Sa could model its land reform on the success achieved in. South africa is still way behind the curve on transforming. In 1994, south africas democratic government implemented land reform to rectify these past racial injustices, to correct skewed land ownership patterns and to alleviate poverty. Land reform, south africa, stellenbosch, relative deprivation theory. What has gone wrong in south africas land reform programme, and how can its failings be addressed. Land reform and gender equality in south africa lund university. The challenges of transformation and redistribution cherryl walker human sciences research council harold wolpe memorial trust conference cape town, 25 27 march 2004. 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. Rural development and land reform minister gugile nkwinti told parliament recently that from 1994 to 31 january 20 the government spent over.
Ben cousins what has gone wrong in south africas land reform programme, and how can its failings be addressed. South africas land tenure reform programme in the former. Or should they adopt modern concepts of individual tenure. The scenarios building process was convened and supported by the vumelana advisory fund, which contracted reos partners to manage the process. Inadequate and inappropriate planning, and lack of meaningful consultation with beneficiaries, gives rise to negative community dynamics, a lack of institutional support and uncoordinated service delivery. Article information, pdf download for the agribusiness model in south african land. Rethinking the land question cherryl walker stellenbosch university this article argues that a mismatch exists between the political aspirations and popular expectations that surround the land question in south africa and the transformative potential of land reform itself.
Changing patterns of rural land use and land cover insouth africa and theirimplications for land reform m. His comments come against claims that whites owned 87 percent of south africas land and that little progress has been made in changing this picture. The end of apartheid found a high proportion of the south african population residing in rural or semirural areas, but functionally dependent on the urban. A pilot land reform programme was designed lund, 1996 following more or less the guidelines of the marketassisted. 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.
The extent of it remained unknown, and therefore informed policymaking remained elusive. Post settlement challenges for land reform beneficiaries. If you have the address of the school you need to convert it to longitude and latitude. The agribusiness model in south african land reform. We hope it will stimulate interest in the fulllength report, in which the issues and recommendations briefly described here are discussed in depth.
South africa will not improve womens bargaining power much for. Land reform has been a failure in every single respect and this failure will haunt south africa for the next 20 years, said prof nick vink of the department of agricultural economics at stellenbosch university, at the recent red meat abattoir association conference in stellenbosch. Land alienation and unequal control over land are, therefore, the major issues underlying concerns over land tenure in southern africa, by the average citizen, rather than the legal form of such tenure that concerns elites, some governments and some donors. What is going wrong in south africas postapartheid land reform programme, and how can its failings be addressed. A 10point plan to orderly land reform in south africa. Ultimately, this note concludes that, even in the context of zimbabwes similar land crisis, south africas land reform program will prove to be successful in the years to come. As a result the land reform process in south africa has largely adopted the ideology and guidelines outlined earlier. The application of these discriminatory laws and practices resulted in extreme inequalities in relation to land ownership and land use. The scenarios were developed by 40 people who approach land reform from widely differing perspectives. The land summit held in july 2005 attested to the general frustration that exists around the slow pace of land reform.
It is against this last concern that a debate about the place of land reform in poverty alleviation takes place. In south africa the longitude will always be a positive number between 15 and 35. The national partys land reform programme was simple and predictable i. For that we need a comprehensive restructuring of the agricultural sector, with successful black commercial farmers making profits on their newly acquired land by. Progress to date1 edward lahiff2 introduction and background this paper provides an overview of land reform in south africa since the advent of democratic government in 1994, with a particular emphasis on land redistribution. The latitude will always be a negative number between 20 and 35. This green paper represents the latest development in a long history of land reform in south africa. Thus, landownership and the need for land reform are fundamental to policy reforms and the. Latitude tells you the yaxis north south position, longitude tells you the xaxis eastwest position. A more than 365 year history of colonialism and apartheid have indelibly affected land, heritage and human rights in south africa. The land reform in zimbabwe was organised in line with that slogan and had the following basic elements of speed, which made it to be known as the fast track land reform. Land reform in south africa konradadenauerstiftung.
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. Why south africas land reform agenda is stuck south. Twenty two years after the transition to democracy and the commencement of land reform, there is a great deal of lived experience to. Lack of funding, for example, for land restitution was one of the obstacles encountered by key land stakeholders in south africa.
The current status and future of land reform in south africa. Foreign technical assistance was therefore not a condition attached to donor funding. Now 16 years into democracy, landless people hope that government under the leadership of president jacob zuma, and rural development and land reform. The focus of the paper is the land redistribution program, but it touches briefly on restitution and tenure. The development of the south african national land cover. Land reform tops the list of priorities affecting south african agriculture, given the current policy environment in which the sector operates. Since 2008, africa attracted numerous foreign investors. South africas land reform programme, adopted by the african national congress anc led government in 1994, has a long way to go in redressing the historical injustice of land dispossession, denial of access to land and forced removals. Could kenyan experiences of group tenure provide a model for the south african land reform policy. Many are angry at the failure of land reform and there are increasing calls for land to be returned to black south africans. The challenge of poverty is a disturbing reality in south africa. 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. Working with spatial data in south africa open data. This note addresses south africas history, the development of south africas land problem, and the implementation of south africas land reform program.
12 1491 730 690 954 341 775 1340 708 712 1128 715 530 1479 64 280 607 453 481 1284 670 1041 1184 351 1123 880 1306 657 17 1351 1048 1079 329 323