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

A critical appraisal of South Africa’s
market-based land reform policy
Chapter 3: Methodology
This study is a critical examination of the implementation of LRAD in
Limpopo up to 2003. The key questions addressed by the study are:
! What kinds of projects are being created by LRAD
! Who is benefiting from LRAD
! Is LRAD achieving its own objectives
! To what extent is LRAD achieving what is expected of marketbased
land reform
! Can LRAD and market-based approaches to land reform achieve the
objectives of land reform in South Africa
The data was gathered as a research
project implemented by the Nkuzi
Development Association under the
management of the author. 1 The author
was assisted in the data-gathering phase by
a team of three other Nkuzi staff. 2 The core
of the study involved the administration of
questionnaires that were complemented by
field notes.
The scope of the study covered all 20
LRAD projects approved by DLA in
Limpopo up to the end of March 2003.
Information was obtained on all of these
projects, and direct interviews were carried
out with beneficiaries from 14 of them.
Information was also gathered from the
Land Bank on the LRAD projects that it
had approved in the province. However
difficulties in accessing information and
limited time and resources made a full
investigation of the Land Bank projects
impractical.
Most of the information was gathered
from November 2002 to April 2003. Some
follow up interviews were done with key
informants later in 2003 and early in 2004
to fill information gaps or clarify areas of
uncertainty that emerged during the
analysis of the data.
Key informants, primarily in DLA, but
also from the Limpopo Department of
Agriculture (DoA), the Land Bank and the
Human Sciences Research Council, were
interviewed using structured interviews
with open-ended questions. Additional
data such as reports and lists of projects
were provided by some of the key
informants.
Fourteen beneficiaries were interviewed
using two questionnaires, one that obtained
mostly biographical information and the
other which focused on agricultural production.
Some points of interest that went
beyond the structure of the questionnaire
were explored further and noted. This
information was complemented by site
visits and supplementary interviews.
Endnotes
1. Nkuzi Development Association is a non-profit
organisation working on land and agrarian reform in
the Limpopo and Gauteng provinces of South Africa.
The author of this study was the Director of Nkuzi at
the time the research was carried out.
2. Mike Nefale, Ndiaphi Kwinda and Kgalema
Kalauba.
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