A critical appraisal of South Africa's market-based land reform policy

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Chapter 1: Introduction the critiques of LRAD there has been almost no documentation on the effectiveness of LRAD in achieving its objectives or its contribution to the broader objectives of land reform. The focus of this report is market-based land reform. The topic is addressed primarily through a critical examination of the implementation of LRAD in Limpopo province. Chapter 2 discusses some of the main land reform debates and experiences in order to locate LRAD within the context of market-based land reforms internationally and in South Africa. Chapter 3 presents the methodology used for this study, while Chapter 4 provides a brief background to the study area. Chapter 5 explains the LRAD policy, the structures and procedures used for its implementation in Limpopo, and some of the achievements of the programme. Chapter 6 presents the information gathered on individual LRAD projects, primarily information gathered directly from the beneficiaries through interviews and site visits. Finally, Chapter 7 presents an analysis of the findings, raising some concerns about the programme while also acknowledging what it has achieved. This compilation and analysis of empirical information on the implementation and impact of LRAD is intended to contribute to ongoing debates about LRAD and the relevance of market-based land reforms in South Africa. Endnotes 1. Total hectares of farmland owned as commercial farming units (82 209 571ha) as a percentage of total farmland (100 665 792ha). Figures sourced from Development Bank of Southern Africa and N Vink, Chair: Department of Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University. 2. Calculated from population, farm unit and agricultural land figures. 3
A critical appraisal of South Africa’s market-based land reform policy Chapter 2: International land reform debates This chapter situates the LRAD programme, as the primary land redistribution programme in South Africa, within the debate around land reform internationally, with a focus on market-based land redistribution. Contemporary redistributive land reform Arguments for land reform programmes typically revolve around issues of equity, poverty reduction, economic development and political stability (DLA 1997). Land reforms are also seen by some as important in contributing to human freedoms, civil liberties and sustainable democracies (Prosterman & Riedinger 1987:88–91; World Bank 2003:xvii, 16). Access to land remains critical for people’s very survival in most developing countries where ‘land is the primary means for generating a livelihood’ (World Bank 2003:xix). During the 20 th century many governments developed land reform policies to meet these objectives and to try and deal in a controlled way with the demands and tensions around land. Governments in post-colonial states have found themselves under particular pressures with regard to the land reform they could implement. They have had to consolidate their newfound power, take control of land for development purposes, respond to the interests of traditional and emerging local elites, and meet the needs of the majority of the rural poor (Toulmin & Quan 2000:8, 11). In Africa there has been a lot of continuity from colonial to post-colonial land reforms. For example the Kenyan land reforms that were started by the British rulers in the 1950s were continued with even greater vigour by the first postindependence government (Okoth-Ogendo 1993:262). The reasons for this continuity, according to Okoth-Ogendo, were the weak nature of many post-colonial states, constitutions that preserved existing institutions and laws, the extent and influence of foreign investments, and the need to earn foreign exchange (Okoth- Ogendo 1993:261–4). Many of the reforms initiated in the colonial era focused on tenure upgrading and village re-organisation, rather than a redistribution of land (Okoth-Ogendo 1993:262–3). However in the 1960s the British also initiated a large-scale redistribution of land in Kenya out of fear that there would be a wave of land seizures. The Million Hectare Scheme involved the acquisition of 1.5 million hectares by the state from colonial landowners and the settlement of 34 000 families on this land by 1971 (Bruce 1993:42). In many other African countries independent governments implemented their own radical and redistributive land reforms. In the 1970s the Marxist regime in Ethiopia abolished the feudal system of landholding, nationalised all land, and distributed it to those willing to work it (Okoth-Ogendo 1993:265). In Mozambique the abandonment of farms by the Portuguese at independence made the nationalisation of land relatively easy. The land was split between state farms, cooperative farms, and the distribution of land to individuals through a registered licence to land that left the state with an overriding power (Okoth-Ogendo 1993: 265). Land was nationalised through 4
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A critical appraisal of South Africa's market-based land reform policy

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