How far will South Africa’s land reform programme be in decades to come? The Vumelana Advisory Fund has come up with four different scenarios for the future. eNCA speaks to the company’s Brian Whittaker.
Follow the link below to watch an interview with Brian […]
Does the Constitution obstruct or support land reform? The issue was tackled by Bulelwa Mabasa, director at Werksmans Attorneys; Public Works Deputy Minister Jeremy Cronin; Sithandiwe Yeni, rural transformation manager at Oxfam SA; and Lubabalo Ntsholo, EFF parliamentary researcher.
“As people seek better livelihoods, the idea of land occupation is spreading.”
The EFF calls for confiscatory land reform without compensation and it seems this is appealing to those frustrated by the alleged snail’s pace at which land claims are dealt with. Earlier this week members of the party illegally occupied a piece of Safcol’s Bergvliet Plantation […]
In all rich countries, property rights are secure. Formal, legal title makes it easier to buy, sell and develop land. Buyers can be confident that the seller really has the right to sell what he is selling. Owners can use their property as collateral, perhaps borrowing money to buy fertiliser and better seeds. Legally recognising […]
What is going wrong in South Africa’s land reform programme, and how can its failings be addressed? In 22 years land reform has barely altered the agrarian structure of South Africa, and has had only minor effects on rural livelihoods. Partly unintentionally, partly by design, land reform has been captured by elites. The most powerful voices are those of traditional leaders, so-called “emerging” black capitalist farmers (who often own other businesses), consultants, agri-business companies and white farmers.
What is the courageous conversation we are not yet having with the unknown future — the world that lies over the horizon, but has not yet been fully articulated? The poet, David Whyte, wants to know. We are not good at these conversations because they take us into the unknown. But in a world in distress, they are the conversations we must have if we are to move beyond a sense of foreboding to charting a new course. This is true for many areas of South African life: economic growth, poverty, inequality, race, land. It is difficult to see what lies beyond the horizon, and there is a growing sense of unease about our future.
In April this year the Rural Development and Land Reform Parliamentary Committee was briefed by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) on its Annual Performance Plan for 2016 – 2017, with the Deputy Minister in attendance. One of the important medium term strategic framework priorities was the growth of sustainable rural enterprises and industries, characterised by strong rural-urban linkages, increased investment in agro-processing, trade development and access to markets and financial services, resulting in rural job creation.
