Land reform in South Africa : a case study of the Witzenberg pals initiative

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : The post-1994 South African government introduced Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) in an attempt to address the economic inequality of the country. The primarygoal of BEE policy is to assist black South Africans to enter the mainstream economysuccessfully. However, the agricultural sector faces various idiosyncratic problems rendering BEE ineffective; the unequal distribution of land is one. The objective of land distribution programmes is to enable black people to be successful participants in the economy. Commercial farmers (private sector) from the Witzenberg region collaborated with the municipality, the agribusiness sector, and the community to implement an effective and sustainable land reform programme. The goal was to contribute to successful land reform, job creation involving the community and improving social cohesion. In 2014, the Witzenberg Partnership in Agricultural Land Solutions (PALS) was born. The purpose of this study was to analyse whether this model for land redistribution meets the requirements for the successful empowerment of emerging farmers. The results could generate lessons for future land reform initiatives. A literature review determined entry difficulties, skills development,production rights, and an exit strategy as factors to be addressed for land reform to be successful in the agricultural sector of South Africa. A case study analysis wasconducted on 13 Witzenberg initiative projects. Qualitative primary data were collected using semi-structured interviews and by reviewing official documentation of the implemented projects. These projects were measured against the four factorsproposed for successful implementation of land reform. The results indicate theWitzenberg initiative meets the requirements for successful land reform in South Africa.It is recommended the government should incentivise private sector involvement toencourage partnerships between commercial and emerging farmers. Financial institutions should provide discount rates for land reform projects to support the acquisition, initial capital investment, and operating capital. Because this study was restricted to measuring the influence of the private sector in one region only, the results are not generalisable. Future studies could include other farming areas measuring theimpact and contribution of the government instead of the private sector.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University