Latest news with #Vumelana
IOL News
18-07-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Unpacking the challenges of land reform in South Africa: a 30-year struggle for success
'In addition, too little attention has been given to enabling the productive use of land,' Setou said. According to Peter Setou, CEO at the Vumelana Advisory Fund, this was due to a myriad of factors, like it being strangled by under-resourcing, budget constraints and poor delivery mechanisms. For decades, land reform in South Africa has not been as successful as it should be. The recent report of the Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development, on the 2025/26 Annual Performance Plans and the Budget of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development and its entities, reflected that South Africa is sitting on a slow-moving, underfunded and unsustainably structured land reform system. The country is said to need a robust conversation on how to address these challenges sustainably. The release of government-owned land remains ever more important in South Africa, says Wandile Sihlobo, the chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa(Agbiz). He said that, disappointingly, the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development has made limited progress on this matter despite this being one of the central aspects of the country's inclusive growth agenda. 'In essence, while we confront many present-day challenges, these long-term reforms of the AAMP and land release must continue for the sector to achieve its inclusive growth aspirations,' Sihlobo said earlier this week. Vumelana said the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has a land restitution budget of R3.7 billion in 2025/26, a nominal 5% increase from last year, but a real-terms decline of 1.12%. Meanwhile, the organisation said the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights is expected to settle just 281 land claims this year, down from 288 in 2024/25, and to finalise only 277. 'At this rate, it will take 30 years to settle the estimated 5 719 outstanding claims, and that excludes the thousands of newer claims awaiting resolution after the 2014 lodgement window was reopened but later halted by the courts. "We therefore need to explore innovative ways of funding land reform, which will require a broader conversation and buy-in from all key stakeholders,' Vumelana said. According to the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights' Chief Land Claims Commissioner Nomfundo Ntloko, as of January 2024, the CRLR had a total of 5 985 old order backlog claims still outstanding, a significant portion of which needs to be processed and recommended for settlement within the implementation period of this plan. She said the current budgetary allocations, as has been indicated previously, remain regrettably insufficient to meet the desired upscaling of claims settlement to eliminate the remaining old order backlog in the short term. 'It is critical that there is additional funding for the land restitution programme. Part of this includes urgently exploring the possibility of ring-fencing the Commission's budget, which is currently included in the budget of DALRRD.' Setou said that more strikingly, the Commission is functioning at just 51.7% of its approved staff capacity, with only 680 posts out of 1 447 filled. He said these bottlenecks need to be reviewed and addressed if the country is to make meaningful progress. 'Arguably, to settle all outstanding old-order land claims alone would cost an estimated R129 billion, according to Project Kuyasa-far beyond the Commission's annual budget. "In contrast, the Agricultural Land Holding Account (ALHA), the key trading entity meant to fund land acquisition, will spend just R1.1 billion in 2025/26. That's a 22% nominal increase from last year, far short of the scale required.'
IOL News
20-06-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Bold and decisive steps must be taken to reverse the legacy of the Native Land Act of 1913
Land reform successes have produced jobs and generated income, but more needs to be done. Image: AFP Bold and decisive steps must be taken to reverse the legacy of the Native Land Act of 1913, says Mzwanele Nyhontso, the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development. He said the Native Land Act of 1913 which became law in South Africa on June 19, (Act No. 27 of 1913), left an indelible mark on the history of South Africa. 'This legislation had a profound and devastating impact on the lives of black people. It was a calculated, cruel instrument and strategy of mass dispossession, that successfully entrenched racial segregation and economic inequality,' Nyhontso said. Land dispossession The Native Land Act, restricted black South Africans to only 7% of the land, forcing them into so called 'native reserves' while reserving the rest of land for white minority ownership. The minister added that through the prohibition of black South Africans from owning land outside the designated so called native reserves, the act stripped millions of their ability to sustain themselves, their families and communities through farming which was the main economic activity. 'The immediate aftermath of the passing of the Native Land Act was the violent and merciless eviction of people from their land, their cattle and crops were confiscated and their homes were destroyed. Up until that point in history, the African had led a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. Black people were stripped of their dignity, effectively forcing them into exploitative farm labour contracts. The act laid the foundation for the migrant system that provided a constant supply of cheap labour for the mines and industries,' the minister added. Undoing the damage The Department said it is committed to reversing this legacy, by ensuring appropriate legislation, policies and programmes are implemented. It added it will intensify its efforts to restore land rights to the historically dispossessed and the equitable redistribution of land. In South Africa, where youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, reaching over 45% of people between the ages of 15 and 34 years, the land reform programme is quietly emerging as a source of employment opportunities and playing an important role in economic development, says the Vumelana Advisory Fund. The organisation said the story of land reform is taking a turn, with some pockets of successes unfolding where young people are leveraging restituted land as a strategy for employment creation and economic transformation. Success stories Peter Setou, Chief Executive of Vumelana said: 'Over time, we've seen the CPP model consistently deliver tangible results and meaningful impact for beneficiaries of the land reform programme. These pockets of success highlight the model's potential. The challenge now is to scale these successes to unlock similar outcomes with other beneficiaries of the land reform programme across the country.' Since its inception, Vumelana said it has supported 26 land reform projects leveraging its transaction advisory support programme and capacity building and institutional support programme. The programme provides the beneficiary communities with access to required resources while negating the need to give up ownership of the land or wait for government grants. The transaction advisory support programme facilitates commercially viable, mutually beneficial partnerships between land reform beneficiary communities and private investors that create jobs, generate income and transfer skills. These successful land reform programmes such as the 151 hectare Moletele-Matuma farm in Limpopo, the Barokologadi-ERP Melorane Game Reserve partnership in North West and the Mkambati Nature Reserve Tourism partnership were said to be examples of success stories resulting from their interventions, where they have collectively managed to create over 2,500 jobs that benefitted over 16,000 households, mobilised over R1 billion in investments and developed approximately 76,000 hectares of land.
