This report is one of three scoping studies commissioned by the Department of International
Development (DFID) to find out about land issues in South Africa. Respectively, the three scoping
studies cover the communal areas, current freehold and
farming communities, and peri-urban and urban areas. In focusing on current freehold and farming communities, this study examines the
critical land issues as they affect this client category. Due to the short time frame, the research for
the report has been largely based on the review and analysis of secondary material complemented
by consultation with key stakeholders
There are three key elements to the conceptual framework that has underpinned the formulation of
this report. Firstly, the study has tried to adopt a pro-poor perspective. This has meant identifying
and considering land issues as these impact on the poor. Secondly, the study has attempted to
take cognisance of the meaning of sustainable livelihoods, which is understood as the
enhancement of the current standard of living without undermining the natural resource base. The
livelihoods approach is a tool of analysis or methodology and is asset based. The commonly
included assets are physical, human, social, financial and natural. Thirdly, markets have been
regarded as institutions that are shaped and structured by economic, political and social factors.
There has been a concern to reflect (however briefly) on the current operation of formal and
informal markets in land, labour, products and finance.
The backdrop to this report is a significant programme of intervention in the land sector instituted
since the first democratic election in 1994. The new government moved quickly to effect land
reform in terms of three essential pillars – land restitution, land redistribution and tenure reform.
The challenge created by the distorted apartheid land dispensation has been considerable.
Through the grant systems, policies and legislation introduced since 1994, a great deal has been
achieved particularly in respect of restitution and redistribution, although budgetary and capacity
constraints remain real issues with regard to meeting stated targets.
The report begins with a profile of current freehold farming communities, focused primarily on farm
workers and their families. An overview is then provided of the land base with a view to generating
an understanding of natural and physical opportunities and constraints. This section also reflects
briefly on land utilization and the determinants and history of farm size. This is followed by a
discussion of land issues and perspectives from the points of view of the different categories of
people or interest groups within the current freehold and farming areas. The focus then shifts to the
institutional framework governing land in South Africa. Policy, legislation and markets are
considered for land, labour and agriculture. The land rights issue is discussed and a description of
land registration systems is provided. The report then hones in on the organizations that impact on,
regulate and influence the institutional framework. The functioning and activities of the
Departments of Land Affairs, Agriculture and Labour is described, as is the involvement of local
government in land issues. The way in which organized agriculture is structured and its modus
operandi are outlined. The initiatives of non-governmental and community based organizations are
described and the degree to which the banks and development finance institutions have intervened
in the land sector is discussed. A brief account of the impact of HIV/AIDS within the current
freehold and farming areas is provided. Current and proposed future interventions on the part of
the state and donors, from the private sector and from the non-governmental sector, are
summarized. The report concludes with an identification of gaps and opportunities that flow from
the description and analysis presented.
- 293Kb ~ 2 min (61 pages)
