By Peter Setou

LAST year was a watershed year for land reform in South Africa. While there were no seismic developments that marked a momentous change in the trajectory of land reform, there were nonetheless steady and encouraging signs that tentative progress is being made to address the land question.

The land question is a very emotive and politically sensitive issue; it encapsulates black aspirations and their quest for restorative justice and also underlies white fears that the implementation of the programme undermines and threatens the security of land ownership.

Yet everyone agrees that the skewed land ownership patterns that were precipitated by past injustices need to be addressed to foster inclusive growth and social cohesion.

One of the most notable developments in 2024 was the splitting of the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development into two ministries, namely the Department of Agriculture headed by Minister John Steenhuisen and the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development led by Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso, respectively.

While these two politicians have opposing political views on land reform, we welcomed this development as we believed that it would enable Steenhuisen to focus solely on the agricultural sector and unlock the much-needed growth of this important economic sector.

The split will also give Nyhontso the space to address the myriads of bottlenecks that impair the expedient and effective implementation of the land reform programme, as identified by several commissions such as the Motlanthe Report and the Presidential Advisory Panel of Land Reform and Agriculture.

They include bureaucratic delays, corruption, patronage, and political influence; inefficiencies within the department; opportunism among beneficiaries and landowners; insufficient support for beneficiaries; as well as poor monitoring and evaluation.

Though Nyhontso had vowed to table an amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution at the beginning of his term, we are encouraged to see that he has since backtracked on this, which is indicative of a realisation that the impediments to land reform are not legislative in nature but are structural and largely attributed to operational deficiencies.

Another notable development in the land reform space is the passing of the long-anticipated Expropriation Bill by both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces in March. The Bill has been sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa for assent. This Bill, which seeks to repeal the Expropriation Act of 1975, marks the end of a legislative journey spanning more than 16 years, and once put into operation, it will hopefully provide much-needed certainty in land reform.

While criticism levelled at the slow pace of the land reform programme is valid, we should caution against blanket condemnation of this initiative and highlight the pockets of achievements and progress.

At the State of the Nation Address (Sona) in February 2024, Ramaphosa pointed out that the 30% target set for agricultural land to be transferred by 2030 was already approaching 25%. This amounts to 23.25 million hectares.

The land reform programme in South Africa is often criticised because it has been painfully slow at best or an outright failure at worst. This is understandable, given the vast tracts of once productive land that have degenerated into ruins.

Research done by Professor Johann Kirsten, a director of the BER and professor of agricultural economics at Stellenbosch University, and Wandile Sihlobo, who is a chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of SA (Agbiz), indicates that a lot of progress has in fact been achieved in the land restitution space.

Citing annual reports by the Land Claims Court, Kirsten and Sihlobo point out that the Land Claims Commission has transferred 4 million hectares back to communities who previously were dispossessed, and over the years a total of R22 billion was paid out in financial compensation. The academics also noted that 7.55 million hectares of farm land have been redistributed to black South Africans.

In addition, they point out communities can elect to receive financial compensation instead of obtaining the formal rights to the land. That means that, in total, the restitution programme managed to restore the equivalent to 6.68 million hectares in the land rights of black communities.

The backlog of unsettled land claims also fuels the narrative of the lacklustre pace of the land reform programme. Figures from the Constitutional Court indicate that 130 000 unsettled claims that were lodged in 2014 and 5 700 claims that were lodged in 1998 are in the process of being settled.

Nyhontso acknowledges the challenge in clearing backlogs and has committed his ministry to expedite the settlement of these outstanding claims.

Another significant development has been the Communal Property Associations (CPAs) Amendment Bill. This amendment provides improved protection of communities and fosters a more transparent and just framework for managing communal lands. It additionally establishes a CPA office and mandates the appointment of a registrar to oversee the regulation of CPAs.

The establishment of the Government of National Unity (GNU) was undoubtedly one of the biggest political developments to come out of South Africa in 2024. Despite divergent political views on the GNU, one thing is clear: the coalition government widens the pool of talent that the executive can tap into, and it allays jitters in the investment community.

The Vumelana Advisory Fund has been at the forefront of advocating for active private sector participation in the land reform programme and, to that end, has facilitated commercially viable partnerships between claimant communities and private investors.

The partnerships are founded on the acknowledgement that the private sector has the requisite skills and access to finance and markets, which are the key ingredients required to ensure that the land is productively managed. These partnerships can help to plug gaps in skills development, create access to markets, and ensure that the restored land remains productive and creates and retains much-needed jobs.

But the private sector naturally seeks a return on investment. They will only participate in the land reform programme if they believe that a conducive political climate is in place and there is policy certainty.

There is no need to reinvent the wheel. We need to implement the elaborate recommendations of the High Level Panel report (Motlanthe Report) and the Presidential Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture. It’s also important to look at what organisations such as Vumelana are doing and use these lessons to upscale in order to have meaningful impact.

The announcement by Ramaphosa in 2021 that the government would establish a Land Reform and Agricultural Development Agency was hailed in many quarters as a step in the right direction. We believe that the proposed agency could fast-track land reform by removing the process from political and bureaucratic control, leaving the heavy lifting to the private sector investors, the beneficiaries of the land reform process, and agribusinesses.

It is disappointing that the creation of this agency has not materialised. The Land Reform and Development Agency must be implemented urgently to facilitate better coordination, reduce red tape, and serve as a one-stop shop on issues related to land reform and development.

While the Land Court Act, 2023, which came into effect in April 2024, should be lauded, there is a need to prioritise the resourcing of the Land Court and the Land Court of Appeal to ensure that disputes on land reform can be adjudicated in a speedy fashion while contributing towards the development of jurisprudence on land-related cases.

The land reform programme has been beset by many challenges, but concerted efforts on the part of government, in closer collaboration with other stakeholders, may just take the programme to new and improved levels. This initiative is too important to fail.

* Peter Setou is the Chief Executive Officer of Vumelana Advisory Fund a non-profit organisation that was established in 2012 to help communities in the land reform programme put their land to productive use through its Community Private Partnership (CPP) model.

** The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Media.

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