Question NW5 to the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development
01 August 2024 - NW5
Mahlatsi, Mr LW to ask the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development
In light of the ongoing challenges faced by many South Africans regarding land ownership and access to land, what (a) is the current status and progress of his department’s land reform initiatives and (b) measures has he taken to ensure that land redistribution is both equitable and efficient, particularly for historically disadvantaged communities; (2) what steps (a) has his department taken to address the bottlenecks and delays in the land claim process and (b) are being implemented to accelerate the resolution of outstanding land claims; (3) what are the relevant details of the support systems his department has in place for new landowners to ensure that they have the necessary resources and knowledge to utilise their land productively; (4) what is the Government's strategy for balancing land reform with agricultural productivity and food security, given the crucial role that agriculture plays in the economy of the Republic?
Reply:
(1)(a) The 1994 democratic breakthrough introduced a Constitution that entrenched land reform in sections 25 (5),(6) and (7). Since 1994, over 9.2 million hectares have been acquired through various government-driven land reform programmes such as Land Redistribution, Tenure Reform and Restitution.
As part of the state land release initiative to accelerate land reform, 659 602 hectares of agricultural state land were allocated for various purposes.
Furthermore, through the Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act (TRANCRAA) No. 94 of 1998, 599 000 hectares have been transferred to coloured communities, where such land was held in trust for the respective communities.
(b) To ensure that land redistribution is both equitable and efficient, the Department has developed, amongst others, the following policies:
- Provision of Land and Assistance Act No. 126 of 1993 to provide for the acquisition of land, planning, development, improvement and disposal of property and the provision of financial assistance for land reform purposes; to provide for the maintenance of property for land reform purposes; and to provide for matters connected therewith.
- Proactive Land Acquisition Policy to provide for the procedure for acquisition of land; define the beneficiary categories and groups for land allocation; and for the approval processes.
- State Land Lease and Disposal Policy to guide on the leasing of state land, whether for agricultural or commercial development purposes and the disposal thereof.
- Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy to provide access to land on a transparent and equitable basis to previously disadvantaged South African citizens in compliance with the Constitution.
- Land Donation Policy to encourage landowners to donate land to advance land reform.
- The Department has commenced development of the Land Redistribution Policy and Bill to further enhance land redistribution.
(2)(a) A Backlog Reduction Strategy was developed to create a detailed database of all outstanding claims to be settled. The strategy focuses on improved policies and standard operating procedures to reduce the time it takes to settle a land claim.
(b) The proposal of a new structure to increase funding to provide for both human and financial resources to implement the strategy has been submitted for approval.
3. The Department has developed programmes that support farmers including land reform beneficiaries i.e., Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP), Blended Funding Model (BFM) and Land Development Support as well as the Cabinet approved National Policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support (NPCPDS).
The Department offers various training programmes to beneficiaries and new landowners through the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) categorised as follows:
- Production such as goat, poultry, crop, maize, dairy, beef, etc.
- Business and Entrepreneurship such as Bookkeeping, Business Management, Financial Management, Record Keeping, Marketing, etc.
- Occupation Health and Safety, Safe Use of Chemicals, and Fire Management, etc.
- Agro–Processing such as Value Addition, Packaging, and Marketing.
Through the Land Development and Post Settlement Support model, the Department has entered into Service Level Agreements with commodity organizations and financial institutions to enable skills transfer, market access and sustainability of farming operations where emerging farmers have been allocated land.
These partnerships provide an opportunity for farmers to build their credit profiles to enable them access to finance as well as access to markets.
National Policy on Comprehensive Producer Development Support (NPCPDS) policy designed to bring together producer support from both government and private sector in a coordinated manner
4. To balance land reform with agricultural production, the President appointed the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture in 2018. The Advisory Panel provided independent expert advice and recommendations which are included in the Programme of Action (POA) and are processed through the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Land Reform and Agriculture, chaired by the Deputy President.
To enhance the utilization of land, the Department worked with social partners in the development of the Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP). The AAMP is key in ensuring the productive utilization of land for primary production that is linked to agro-processing and marketing.