The land question inThe land question in South AfricaSouth Africa 

The distribution of land in South Africa: 

h d h l• 1913: The Native Land Act white settlers had the right to possess 87% of the land. Black Africans were allowed to posses only 7% of the land and were forced to live in reserves. 

• Conquering vacant land: 1890‐1930. • Labor was needed for mines Number of blackLabor was needed for mines. Number of black farmers diminished drastically. 1936 L d d T t A t 13% f th l d• 1936: Land and Trust Act. 13% of the land was reserved for black people. 

Land reform after 1994Land reform after 1994• 1994: End of Apartheid: First Free Elections in 

h fSouth AfricaLand reform with the objective to redistribute 30% f h l d d b h hi h bl k30% of the land owned by the white to the black populationTh di t ib ti f l d t f lThe redistribution of land was part of a larger agrarian reformThis agrarian reform was based on the neoliberalisticThis agrarian reform was based on the neoliberalistic principle of the World Bank and International Monetary Found: “Willing buyers, willing sellers”: The redistribution of land should be regulated by the market

• 1997: White Paper on South African Land Policy:1997: White Paper on South African Land Policy: 1. The ridistribution of land after the espropriation in  1913 (NLA).2. The ridistribution of land in order to correct the inequal access of

property rights3. Security of property rights to poor people

• 1999: The Land Rights Bill:• 1999: The Land Rights Bill:The problem of individual vs. common propertyi htrights

• 2001: Land Redistribution for AgriculturalD l (LRAD)Development (LRAD)

The target group: single individuals• 2004: The Communal Land Right Act:

– Land given to communities rather then to indivuals– The question is to define what is a community?q y

The results:The results: 

Q tit ti i t f i O l 4 % f th• Quantitative point of view: Only 4 % of the land has been ridistributed (2006)

• Rejection of the Market based approach by• Rejection of the Market based approach bysocial movements

• Social effects: difficulty to analyze social• Social effects: difficulty to analyze social effects due to the poor quantitative effect

The problems:The problems: 

• Resistance on the one hand from land owners and on the other resistance from social groups

• Individual vs. common property rightsp p y g

• The remaining question is:The remaining question is: What is the best way to solve the unequal distributionof land considering on the one hand economico a d co s de g o t e o e a d eco o cdevelopment and on the other social equality?