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South African's difficult agrarian reform
Land ownership is one of the more complicated problems in post-apartheid South Africa. Over ten years from the beginning of a restitution process there is still a lot to do. The last Land Summit held at Durban in July 2005 highlighted all the limits that have until now hindered the rebalancing of land possession between whites and blacks.
In fact the restitution process- that began with the Resitution Act in 1994 – has been long, complex, slow and costly. And for critics of the Act it has not brought the balance of land ownership any closer. But apart from the slowness, the main problem is that many millions of people are excluded from the process. It is estimated that around 3.5 million black people were expropriated from their land with the 1913 Land Act and the following discriminatory laws, ending up confined in “tribal centers” or townships near big cities. Despite this up until now only 70 thousand claims for compensation (that can be either financial or land packages) have been lodged.
The debate on how to implement a real agrarian reform, without rethinking the whole the system of property, remains open. Until now the restitution of land program has strictly followed market rules, even if the government is directing it. The principle was that of “willing seller, willing buyer”, meaning that both sides were willing. Black farmers who wanted to buy could do it alone or in groups aided by government subsidies but on the basis that the other side wanted to sell.
Progress has been limited. In ten years only 3 per cent of the land has been redistributed.
And among the controversy, some people say the country should follow in the footsteps of Zimbabwe, where since 2000 the government has forcefully confiscated land from white farmers.
The South Africa government wants to deal with all the reparation requests within the next three years and transfer 30% of agricultural land to disadvantaged groups by 2014.
(20/10/2005)
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