Land Reform Policy

Land reform in South Africa faces significant challenges due to inefficiencies, corruption, and a lack of clear policies. Many South Africans, especially those historically disadvantaged, remain landless or lack secure tenure. The apartheid regime’s legacy of unequal land distribution continues to create economic, social, and cultural divides. Land reform initiatives have also been slow and marred by inefficiencies, particularly around restitution and redistribution.

The DA envisions a South Africa where all citizens have equitable access to land ownership while private property rights are protected. The DA’s Land Reform policy – which focuses on redistribution and equitable access to land, restitution, and security of tenure – aims to create an inclusive economy by increasing opportunities for South Africans to own and use the land they live on productively. The DA is committed to resolving historical land injustices without destabilising the economy.

1. Redistribution and Equitable Access to Land

South Africa’s history of discriminatory laws denied most citizens access to land and the many economic, social, cultural and other benefits associated with it. Redistribution, a key part of land reform in Section 25(5) of the Constitution, aims for equitable access, but true equity remains elusive.

Land redistribution in South Africa faces a myriad of challenges rooted in systemic governance failures. An estimated 70 to 90 percent of all land reform projects (redistribution and restitution) have failed, mainly because of a lack of departmental capacity to provide the requisite support and effective monitoring and evaluation. Notably, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) struggles with high vacancy rates and high levels of corruption, resulting in the misallocation of resources meant for beneficiaries. To add to this, the current land redistribution initiatives often benefit politically connected elites rather than the impoverished communities they aim to support.

Furthermore, the absence of reliable data also hampers understanding of land ownership dynamics and the true demand for land, which extends beyond agricultural needs to include housing and economic activities. Post-settlement support also remains minimal, with many beneficiaries lacking the resources and expertise to utilise their land effectively. Low economic growth and high unemployment are also major barriers to land access. Compounding these issues are inadequate legislation and recent reform efforts, such as the Expropriation Bill, which, despite its aim to enhance access to land, does not address matters of corruption and institutional inefficiency.

The DA will tackle these challenges and economic exclusions suffered by millions of South Africans who were victims of discriminatory laws denying the majority access to land and its many economic, social, cultural and other benefits. Some of the key DA recommendations include:

• Establishing a clear, transparent beneficiary selection process for land redistribution processes. Disadvantage will be used as the principal guiding criterion, using several indicators to identify disadvantages.
• Conducting a full audit of capacity and skills shortage in the DALRRD.
• Developing contract farming models, where buyers and farmers enter into agreements in advance in anticipation of the seasonal produce.
• Establishing increased devolution of powers through granting more redistribution functions and funding to well-functioning provincial governments.
• Completing a further comprehensive national audit of public and private land ownership to develop a detailed picture of land ownership in the country.
• Ensuring the Deeds Office includes demographic data of land transfers and ownership in its records and changes to land usage and subdivisions.
• Recognising the various requirements for land, including demand for access to residential land across towns and cities.
• Ensuring commercially viable farms shall not be targeted for expropriation or redistribution unless there is a strong case for doing so.
• Increasing capital through finance in the form of grants, loans, and equity-backed capital for purchasing land, equipment or working capital.
• Strengthening the institutional capacity of provincial structures responsible for post-settlement support.

Furthermore, the DA’s plan for successful land acquisition and redistribution emphasises primarily using government-owned land, obtaining private land with owner consent, utilising purchase grants, effectively using municipal commonages, and implementing a mixed-use model for redistribution purposes.

2. Restitution

Land restitution in South Africa faces many challenges emanating from the historical injustices of discrimination and land deprivation. The intention was to redress the racially skewed ownership of land created under apartheid. However, inadequacies within the institutional capacity of the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights (CRLR) have led to huge backlogs and delays. At the same time, dysfunctional systems like establishing Communal Property Associations (CPAs) have caused conflict between beneficiaries and governance issues that impede effective land management.

In addition, the complexities in rural claims compound settlement issues since they often require prolonged negotiations with the current landowners, thus increasing costs and frustrations for the claimants. Post-settlement support for beneficiaries also remains inadequate, limiting their opportunities to develop commercially viable agricultural operations. Corruption has further eroded trust in the restitution process, diverting resources and undermining legitimate claims. On top of this comes legislative and policy uncertainties about potential amendments to property rights and the 1913 cut-off date, which leaves many claimants in limbo. These intertwined challenges stall progress toward restitution and threaten the broader goals of reconciliation and social justice in post-apartheid South Africa.

The DA aims to establish a restitution system that promotes greater accountability for government officials, efficient administrative structures and systems, and policies that empower those with a right to historically dispossessed land by:

• Strengthening the Land Claims Court by appointing permanent Land Claims Court judges.
• Amending the Restitution Act to allow for decisive and effective interventions in dysfunctional Trusts and CPAs.
• Creating extensive support for existing CPAs and Trusts and establishing more robust CPA institutions.
• Relieving the Commission fully of post-settlement duties.
• Establishing a comprehensive pre-settlement plan, and all recipients of commercial agricultural land should receive training specifically for the type of commodities produced on the farm.
• Ensuring post-settlement support programmes provide private mentorship from the outset of the projects.
• Reforming dysfunctional administrative settlement and CPA processes that may be facilitating corruption.
• Ensuring that integrity management and anti-corruption mechanisms are adhered to and that consequences for non-compliance are correctly managed across the government, business, and civil society sectors.
• Limiting the use of expropriation to restitution initiatives and using expropriation only as a last resort. Such expropriation must also be compensated.
• Recommending that the 1913 cut-off date remains in place.

3. Security of Tenure

Although Section 25(6) of the Constitution seeks to constitutionally protect against the insecurity of tenure created by racially discriminatory laws, thousands of South Africans, especially in the rural areas of the country, are still vulnerable because of the lack of formal documentation of land rights.

Continued reliance on informal land tenure arrangements leaves millions without recorded ownership, inhibiting their ability to defend and invest in their property. The Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (IPILRA) provides some protection against eviction but fails to address overlapping land claims, conflicting legal frameworks between customary and common law rights, and the political tensions between traditional leaders and local municipalities. Legislative attempts like the Communal Land Rights Bill and the Communal Land Tenure Bill have struggled to resolve these issues, as they often exacerbate power struggles between traditional leaders and communities, leaving beneficiaries of land reform without clear, secure rights.

In urban areas, the housing crisis, informal settlements, and delays in issuing title deeds further complicate efforts to secure tenure. Furthermore, the Labour Tenants Act (LTA) has led to procedural complications, while delays in land transfers for legal entities further frustrate progress. Conflicts between restitution claims and labour tenant applications exacerbate these challenges. The absence of a clear and effective title deed system further compounds the insecurity since many South Africans find it difficult to acquire formal land ownership. Moreover, the failure to integrate informal settlements into formal land-use planning, along with inefficient housing delivery and municipal service provision, leaves millions in precarious living conditions. Overall, these challenges reflect the continual lack of security in land tenure throughout South Africa, which affects both the rural and urban populations.

The DA will ensure that tenure security is established alongside increased access to land by:

• Establishing a formal register which recognises a continuum of land rights.
• Establishing an opt-in/out mechanism in the instance that individuals would want title to a specific portion of communal land and not own this land as part of the bigger group.
• Promoting strong and clearly delineated individual and family-based rights to use land and hold leaders to account.
• Ensuring rights holders must be consulted before using, selling, and developing the land they occupy and use.
• Ensuring the deprivation of informal rights to land should require consent, either from the individual or the group where land is shared. Before a consent decision is made, a facilitator should be appointed.
• Ensuring that the IPILRA should state explicitly that the holders of informal rights are deemed to be the owners of the land in question for the purposes of any revenue from the land or any compensation for the use of the land.
• Ensuring that beneficial occupiers should qualify under IPILRA after three years of beneficial occupation, considering that a person must have occupied for 25 years to qualify.
• Amending the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA) to preclude the settlement of claims outside of court.
• Amending the ESTA for provisions of the Act to also apply to state-owned land.
• Amending the LTA for provisions for compulsory mediation before the matter is heard in court. Furthermore, no notice requiring the landowners to deny or confirm tenancy must be issued. The notice should only inform the owner of the application and require them to attend mediation.
• Recommending that provisions on farm workers be removed. The focus should be on how the land is used and whether stronger rights are justified.
• Amending LTA Regulations to include protection for labour tenants when a restitution claim is lodged on land where labour tenants reside.
• Establishing a database with updated information to track missing claims.
• Ensuring that restitution claims are not prioritised over labour tenant claims through an amendment to the LTA.
• Ensuring that the housing development programmes prioritise farm workers, farm dwellers, and labour tenants.
• Abandoning the 50/50 policy and focus on improving existing systems. 
• Ensuring there are mechanisms to address the competing rights of farm owners and farm workers in all relevant legislation.
• Evaluating the feasibility of government rental arrangements for state-owned land as a temporary measure while formal housing options are being developed.
• Requiring smart, electronic title deeds and easily accessible, transparent, and online title deed registration systems.
• Simplifying the process for small estates and increase the monetary threshold to allow these estates to be finalised more speedily and at lower to no costs.
• Attending to the crisis at the Office of the Master of the High Court and ensuring that the system runs effectively and efficiently.
• Ensuring private property rights are adequately protected.
• Decentralising the title management systems, allowing for greater involvement of local role players to enable recognition of both formal and informal forms of tenure.
• Establishing alternative forms of tenure, including recognising informal forms of tenure through legislative or any other avenues that may be available for the short term.