By Bonginkosi Masiwa

Land reform in South Africa is still in limbo. Admittedly land reform is an emotive issue which demands a lot of caution and sensitivity. As in many post-colonial societies, it is identified as a means to development and the empowerment of people socially, economically and politically, in line with the country’s transformation objectives.

Land redistribution was always going to be an important test of the democratic government’s commitment to transformation as land dispossession is one of the most visible scars of the historic injustices in South Africa.

Like most ‘liberation’ governments, the ANC government inherited a racially skewed land distribution pattern while resistance to the Land Acts of 1913 and 1936 had featured strongly in the formative years of the African National Congress (ANC) and its policies.

The main objectives of the land reform programme South Africa adopted (with the help of the World Bank) post 1994 were fourfold – to redress the injustices of apartheid, foster national reconciliation and stability, underpin economic growth, improve household welfare and alleviate poverty (De Villiers, 2003: 48).

South Africa’s land reform exercise has been based mainly on three pillars: restitution (the restoration of rights to ancestral land or applicable compensation), redistribution (the acquisition of land by the state and redistributing it to the landless) and tenure reform (providing security to those already working the land but who do not own it).

The previous Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza had set 2008 as the target date for settling 7 000 outstanding land claims. However in October this year, Land Affairs director-general Tozi Gwanya conceded to a parliamentary committee that this target might not be met.

According to the Land Claims Commission, the reasons for this included time-consuming Land Claims Court adjudications, conflicts among traditional leaders on issues such as jurisdiction, land ownership, and boundary disputes between communities, disputes with current landowners on land prices or validity of the claim, and claimants who could not be traced. Such ‘complex cases’ were said to constitute about one third of the outstanding rural land claims. Farmer interest groups such as AgriSA have also claimed that farmers are being offered amounts far below the market value of the farm.

It has been alleged that the land reform policy has experienced a shift from a ‘populist’ and ‘justice’ oriented approach that seemed to be the substance of the Mandela era, toward a more economic developmental and sustainable approach under Thabo Mbeki. This shift was one from a focus on the rural poor to ‘emerging’ black commercial farmers consistent with changes in macro-economic policy such as the introduction of GEAR. It also reflects shifting class alliances where government appeared to be pursuing a limited deracialisation of the commercial farming areas, rather than a process of agrarian restructuring.

To date the DLA has transferred 4.8 million hectares of land to black people, which represented 5% of the 24.6 million hectares of land owned by whites. Only 30 percent of all land transferred by government since 1994 was being used productively by the beginning of 2008.

The reasons for the slow progress in land delivery are numerous. According to the government they included a period of ‘tooling up’ through policymaking, consultation and the building of institutions for delivery under the first democratic government. The government has also blamed the lack of money, as well as the lack of capacity within its departments (especially DLA) to fulfill the tasks set for it. Over the past two years government says it has created 1 231 new positions in the Department of Land Affairs to help in addressing the challenge.

The land redistribution programme still needs to deal with issues such as tenure reform, post settlement support and rural development. Earlier this year (2008) Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana announced that government would be approving a substantial increase to the LRAD grant to make more money available to qualifying land reform beneficiaries.

“The minimum grant for qualifying applicants would increase from R20 000 per individual to R111 125 and the current maximum grant of R100 000 per qualifying individual to R430 085,” she said.

The willing-buyer-willing-seller approach is still being blamed for the slow delivery of land in South Africa. The government has reiterated its commitment to negotiated settlements but it is equally understandable that negotiations cannot be dragged on indefinitely.

Although expropriation remains a contentious issue it is still worth considering as an option to hasten orderly land transfers.

References
Sapa (31 October 2008) ‘Land Reform ‘rumours untrue’ Johannesburg  
Sapa (21 May 2008) ‘Land claims 95 percent settled – Xingwana’ Johannesburg

First published in the Transformer Vol. 14 No. 6 / Dec 2008 - Jan 2009