Land reform has been moved to the back burner by issues relating to service delivery, load-shedding and the emergence of the MK Party.

The formation of the Government of National Unity generated a positive climate for change, but also created ambivalences, such as the appointment of the DA’s John Steenhuisen as Minister of Agriculture and the PAC’s Mzwanele Nyhontso as Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.

These two politicians represent diametrical opposing views on land reform.

The issue of expropriation without compensation was a dominant political issue in the 2019 national election in which the ANC was victorious with a majority of 57%. The ruling ANC, however, failed in its project to change the Constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation.

What are the real numbers?

A land audit by government in 2017 determined that 114,2 million hectares, or 94% of the 122 million hectares of land in the country, is registered with the Deeds Office. In the Eastern Cape, 7,7 million hectares are unregistered trust state land, and in Limpopo this figure is 5,5 million hectares.

The audit indicated that individuals, companies and trusts own 89,5 million hectares (90%) of South Africa’s land. Individuals own 39%, trusts 26%, and companies 25% of the land.

Community-based organisations own 3,5 million hectares (4%) of the land. Small farms and agricultural holdings make up 6% of total land parcels. The audit also found that 7% of landowners (588 045 individuals) own 97% of all the existing land.

Research done by Johann Bornman over several years as well as agricultural economists like Prof Johann Kirsten and Wandile Sihlobo showed that out of the total surface area of 122 million hectares of land in South Africa, fewer than 114 million hectares are usable land, and 97 million hectares have agricultural potential.

With the establishment of the democratic dispensation in South Africa in 1994, a total of just over 18 million hectares of former homelands and self-governing states were incorporated into the country, of which 15,6 million hectares were agricultural land.

Patterns of ownership

The National Development Plan suggested that 30% of land owned by white farmers in 1994 should be relocated to facilitate land reform. This target was calculated to be 23,25 million hectares.

Government went ahead and acquired white agricultural land of 2,3 million hectares as part of land redistribution. Government also acquired 551 847ha of land for non-agricultural purposes.

South Africans of colour acquired 4,8 million hectares for agriculture and 1,7 million hectares for other purposes from white farmers, all with the assistance of government programmes.

It is important to note that people of colour also bought at least 2,2 million hectares of agricultural land from white farmers outside government programmes and with their own resources, which is a very significant development.

As part of government’s restitution initiative, a total of 4,5 million hectares of land was relocated to people who had made land claims.

In the process of land transformation, government has spent R53,27 billion, of which R25,6 billion made up the cost of land, R22,6 billion was spent on financial compensation and R5,4 billion on grants. This expenditure benefitted at least 2,3 million South Africans.

Restitution through financial compensation (agricultural land only) adds up to the equivalent of three million hectares.

From 1994 to just before the May 2024 election, a total of 19 million hectares of agricultural land that was previously in white hands became available for land reform and restitution. This is equal to 24,6% of white farmland, or 81,2% of the land reform target, and refers to the 25% that Ramaphosa mentioned in his State of the Nation Address.

The future

It is very likely that the agricultural land reform target of 30% will be reached by 2030. It has become time to change the focus to the transfer of title deeds to emerging farmers to enable them to unlock the potential of land and to break out of the inefficient provision of agricultural assistance by provincial departments of agriculture.

Rural agricultural development in general has now moved to the level of the urgent necessity of having functioning local governments, better infrastructure, agricultural services and government-assisted financial systems.

Theo Venter is a professor of Practice in the School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy, University of Johannesburg. Email him at [email protected].