6 - Government-driven land and Agrarian Reform Programmes in Post-Apartheid South Africa – a Brief History (1994-2021).
African Sociological Review,
Vol. 25 No. 1 (2021): African Sociological Review
Abstract
South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world, a reality created by colonial and apartheid-era race-based property laws which transferred 80% of the land to whites who make up only 10% of the population, while blacks had to make do with the remaining 20% (Presidential Advisory Panel, 2019). After winning the country’s first democratic elections in 1994, the African National Congress vowed to use land and agrarian reform to help reduce poverty, inequality and unemployment and roll back apartheid geography. Since 1997, a plethora of programmes have been implemented to advance this transformation agenda with little success. We review the major government-driven programmes implemented thus far and argue that the slow pace of reform is due mainly to underinvestment, constant chopping and changing of programmes between presidential terms and an overly-narrow focus on creating a class of black large-scale commercial farmers while neglecting millions of food-insecure blacks – especially women, many of whom already farm for subsistence - and as long as this persists, the clamour for land by blacks will only grow louder.
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- Aliber, M. (2013). The opportunities and limitations of the Willing Buyer / Willing Seller approach to land reform in South Africa. Paper presented at the Land Divided Conference, 24-27 March 2013, Cape Town. Published as part of conference
- proceedings.
- Anseeuw, W. (2006) Can We Speak about Effective Land Reform in South Africa?
- IFAS Working Paper Series/Les Cahiers de l’IFAS, 2006, 8, p. 77-90. hal00799113 Amoateng, A. and Richter, L. (2007) Social and economic context of families and households in South Africa. In: Amoateng, A.Y. & Heaton, T.B. (eds).
- Families and Households in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Socio-Demographic Perspectives, Pp. 1-26. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
- Bannister. S. (2003). Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa; 6: Rural Settlement. Cape Town: PLAAS.
- Bernstein, H. (2007). Agrarian questions of capital and labour: some theory about land reform (and a periodisation). Ntsebeza, L., Hall, R, eds, 2010. The Land Question in South Africa: The Challenge of Transformation and Distribution, 1st ed, Cape Town: HSRC/University of Cape Town.
- Cousins, B. (2007). Agrarian reform and the ‘two economies’: transforming South Africa’s countryside. In Ntsebeza, L & Hall, R, eds, The Land Question in South Africa; The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution, 1st ed, pp. 220-245.
- Cape Town: HSRC Press.
- DAFF. (2019). Annual Performance Plan for the 2018/19 Fiscal Year. Pretoria: DAFF.
- De Villiers, B. (2003). Land Reform: Issues and Challenges. A Comparative Overview of Experiences in Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, and Australia. Johannesburg: KAS.
- DLA. (1997). White Paper on South African Land Policy. Pretoria: DLA.
- DoA. (2008). The Land and Agrarian Reform Project (LARP); The Concept Document. Pretoria: DoA.
- DPME. (2016). Policy Brief Series: Plans to Destress Country’s Distressed Farms. Pretoria:DPME.
- DRDLR (2009). Department of Rural Development and Land Reform Strategic Plan 2009-2012. Pretoria: DRDLR.
- DRDLR. (2013). Policy for the Recapitalisation Programme of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Pretoria: DRDLR.
- DRDLR. (2015). Implementation Evaluation of Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS). Pretoria: DRDLR Directorate of Evaluation and Research.
- DRDLR. (2017). Policy Imperatives and Briefing on the One Household One Hectare and One Household Two Dairy Cows Policy. Pretoria: DRDLR.
- DRDLR. (2019). Annual Statistical Report for Selected Service Delivery Programmes of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Pretoria: DRDLR.
- Government Gazette. (2007). Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Transformation Charter for Agriculture; AgriBEE. Pretoria: Government Gazette/STAATSKOERANT 20 March 2008.
- Hall, R. (2007). Transforming rural South Africa? Taking stock of land reform. In Ntsebeza, L & Hall, R, eds, The Land Question in South Africa; The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution, 1st ed, pp. 87-106. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
- Hall, R. (2014). Land Reform: Can’t We do Better? Presentation to ECSECC Public Seminars.
- ECSECC seminar University of Fort Hare, East London 4 September 2014.
- Cape Town: PLAAS.
- Jacobs, P, Lahiff, H and Hall, R. (2003). Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa; Land redistribution. Cape Town: PLAAS.
- Kassier, W.E & Groenewald, J.A. (1992). The Agricultural Economy of South Africa.
- In Czaki, Csaba et al, eds. Agricultural Restructuring in South Africa. Windhoek: International Association of Agricultural Economists.
- Lahiff, E. (2007). ‘Willing Buyer, Willing Seller’: South Africa’s failed experiment in market-led agrarian reform. Third World Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 8, 2007, pp 1577 – 1597.
- Lahiff, E. (2008). Land Reform in South Africa: A Status Report 2008. Cape Town: Cape Town: PLAAS.
- Moyo, S. (2004). The Politics of Land Distribution and Race Relations in Southern Africa. Geneva: UNRISD.
- Moyo, S. (2007). Africa Development, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, 2007, pp. 1–34.
- National Planning Commission. (2008). National Development Plan. Pretoria: Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.
- Ngam, R.N. (2012). A Critical Review and Assessment of the South African Government’s Post-Settlement Support to Black Farmers: A Case Study of Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) in the Limpopo Province. Unpublished
- Dissertation. University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
- Ntsebeza, L. (2013). The more things change, the more they remain the same: Rural Land Tenure and Democracy in the Former Bantustans. In F. Hendricks, L. Ntsebeza and K. Helliker, eds, The Promise of Land: Undoing a Century of
- Dispossession in South Africa,1st ed, Johannesburg: Jacana.
- Ntsebeza, L. (2018). Op-Ed: How ANC Changed Gear on Land Reform. [Online] Daily Maverick, 11 March 2018. Available at https://www.dailymaverick.
- co.za/article/2018-03-11-op-ed-how-anc-changed-gear-on-land-reform/.[Accessed on 29/01/2020].
- Parliament of South Africa. (1994). White Paper on Reconstruction and Development. Notice No. 1954 of 1994, Government Gazette, Vol. 353 (No. 16085), 23
- November 1994, pp.1-81.
- PLAAS. (2016). 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. Cape Town: PLAAS.
- Presidential Advisory Panel. (2019). Final Report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture for His Excellency the President of South Africa.
- Pretoria: Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.
- AFRICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW VOL 25 1 2021 STATSSA. (2007). Census of Commercial Agriculture, 2007. Pretoria: Statssa.
- STATSSA. (2019). Towards measuring the extent of food security in South Africa: An examination of hunger and food adequacy/Statistics South Africa. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa.
- Van den Brink, R et al. (2006). Consensus, Confusion, and Controversy; Selected Land Reform Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, D.C: The Wold Bank.
- Van den Brink, R, Thomas, GS and Binswanger, H. (2007). Agricultural Land Redistribution in South Africa: Towards Accelerated Implementation. In Ntsebeza, L & Hall, R, eds, The Land Question in South Africa; The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution,1st ed, pp. 152-201. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
References
Aliber, M. (2013). The opportunities and limitations of the Willing Buyer / Willing Seller approach to land reform in South Africa. Paper presented at the Land Divided Conference, 24-27 March 2013, Cape Town. Published as part of conference
proceedings.
Anseeuw, W. (2006) Can We Speak about Effective Land Reform in South Africa?
IFAS Working Paper Series/Les Cahiers de l’IFAS, 2006, 8, p. 77-90. hal00799113 Amoateng, A. and Richter, L. (2007) Social and economic context of families and households in South Africa. In: Amoateng, A.Y. & Heaton, T.B. (eds).
Families and Households in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Socio-Demographic Perspectives, Pp. 1-26. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Bannister. S. (2003). Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa; 6: Rural Settlement. Cape Town: PLAAS.
Bernstein, H. (2007). Agrarian questions of capital and labour: some theory about land reform (and a periodisation). Ntsebeza, L., Hall, R, eds, 2010. The Land Question in South Africa: The Challenge of Transformation and Distribution, 1st ed, Cape Town: HSRC/University of Cape Town.
Cousins, B. (2007). Agrarian reform and the ‘two economies’: transforming South Africa’s countryside. In Ntsebeza, L & Hall, R, eds, The Land Question in South Africa; The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution, 1st ed, pp. 220-245.
Cape Town: HSRC Press.
DAFF. (2019). Annual Performance Plan for the 2018/19 Fiscal Year. Pretoria: DAFF.
De Villiers, B. (2003). Land Reform: Issues and Challenges. A Comparative Overview of Experiences in Zimbabwe, Namibia, South Africa, and Australia. Johannesburg: KAS.
DLA. (1997). White Paper on South African Land Policy. Pretoria: DLA.
DoA. (2008). The Land and Agrarian Reform Project (LARP); The Concept Document. Pretoria: DoA.
DPME. (2016). Policy Brief Series: Plans to Destress Country’s Distressed Farms. Pretoria:DPME.
DRDLR (2009). Department of Rural Development and Land Reform Strategic Plan 2009-2012. Pretoria: DRDLR.
DRDLR. (2013). Policy for the Recapitalisation Programme of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Pretoria: DRDLR.
DRDLR. (2015). Implementation Evaluation of Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS). Pretoria: DRDLR Directorate of Evaluation and Research.
DRDLR. (2017). Policy Imperatives and Briefing on the One Household One Hectare and One Household Two Dairy Cows Policy. Pretoria: DRDLR.
DRDLR. (2019). Annual Statistical Report for Selected Service Delivery Programmes of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform. Pretoria: DRDLR.
Government Gazette. (2007). Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Transformation Charter for Agriculture; AgriBEE. Pretoria: Government Gazette/STAATSKOERANT 20 March 2008.
Hall, R. (2007). Transforming rural South Africa? Taking stock of land reform. In Ntsebeza, L & Hall, R, eds, The Land Question in South Africa; The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution, 1st ed, pp. 87-106. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Hall, R. (2014). Land Reform: Can’t We do Better? Presentation to ECSECC Public Seminars.
ECSECC seminar University of Fort Hare, East London 4 September 2014.
Cape Town: PLAAS.
Jacobs, P, Lahiff, H and Hall, R. (2003). Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa; Land redistribution. Cape Town: PLAAS.
Kassier, W.E & Groenewald, J.A. (1992). The Agricultural Economy of South Africa.
In Czaki, Csaba et al, eds. Agricultural Restructuring in South Africa. Windhoek: International Association of Agricultural Economists.
Lahiff, E. (2007). ‘Willing Buyer, Willing Seller’: South Africa’s failed experiment in market-led agrarian reform. Third World Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 8, 2007, pp 1577 – 1597.
Lahiff, E. (2008). Land Reform in South Africa: A Status Report 2008. Cape Town: Cape Town: PLAAS.
Moyo, S. (2004). The Politics of Land Distribution and Race Relations in Southern Africa. Geneva: UNRISD.
Moyo, S. (2007). Africa Development, Vol. XXXII, No. 4, 2007, pp. 1–34.
National Planning Commission. (2008). National Development Plan. Pretoria: Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.
Ngam, R.N. (2012). A Critical Review and Assessment of the South African Government’s Post-Settlement Support to Black Farmers: A Case Study of Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) in the Limpopo Province. Unpublished
Dissertation. University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.
Ntsebeza, L. (2013). The more things change, the more they remain the same: Rural Land Tenure and Democracy in the Former Bantustans. In F. Hendricks, L. Ntsebeza and K. Helliker, eds, The Promise of Land: Undoing a Century of
Dispossession in South Africa,1st ed, Johannesburg: Jacana.
Ntsebeza, L. (2018). Op-Ed: How ANC Changed Gear on Land Reform. [Online] Daily Maverick, 11 March 2018. Available at https://www.dailymaverick.
co.za/article/2018-03-11-op-ed-how-anc-changed-gear-on-land-reform/.[Accessed on 29/01/2020].
Parliament of South Africa. (1994). White Paper on Reconstruction and Development. Notice No. 1954 of 1994, Government Gazette, Vol. 353 (No. 16085), 23
November 1994, pp.1-81.
PLAAS. (2016). 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. Cape Town: PLAAS.
Presidential Advisory Panel. (2019). Final Report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture for His Excellency the President of South Africa.
Pretoria: Presidency of the Republic of South Africa.
AFRICAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW VOL 25 1 2021 STATSSA. (2007). Census of Commercial Agriculture, 2007. Pretoria: Statssa.
STATSSA. (2019). Towards measuring the extent of food security in South Africa: An examination of hunger and food adequacy/Statistics South Africa. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa.
Van den Brink, R et al. (2006). Consensus, Confusion, and Controversy; Selected Land Reform Issues in Sub-Saharan Africa. Washington, D.C: The Wold Bank.
Van den Brink, R, Thomas, GS and Binswanger, H. (2007). Agricultural Land Redistribution in South Africa: Towards Accelerated Implementation. In Ntsebeza, L & Hall, R, eds, The Land Question in South Africa; The Challenge of Transformation and Redistribution,1st ed, pp. 152-201. Cape Town: HSRC Press.