Chapter 3 Land reform in a changing development context: Linkages between evidence, policy and practice

2 A short history of land reform 2.3 The evolution of the land reform programme

Since 1994, South Africa has embarked on a land reform programme, designed to redress the racial imbalance in land-holding and secure the land rights of historically disadvantaged people. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa sets out the legal basis for land reform, particularly in the Bill of Rights (Chapter 2), albeit within a liberal-democratic framework that upholds the rights of all property holders. Section 25 allows for expropriation of property for a public purpose or in the public interest, which explicitly includes land reform, subject to just and equitable compensation for owners. The Constitution places a clear responsibility on the State to carry out land and related reforms and grant specific rights to victims of past discrimination. The framework for land reform policy was set out in the White Paper on South African Land Policy, which divides land reform policy into three broad areas: Restitution, which provides relief for certain categories of victims of forced dispossession under apartheid. Redistribution, based on a system of discretionary grants that assists certain categories of people to acquire land through the market. Tenure reform, which is intended to secure and extend the tenure rights of the victims of past discriminatory practices. The State's land reform programme aims to achieve equity and efficiency: equity by providing access to, and ownership of, land; and efficiency by improving land use and its contribution to the rural (and ultimately the national) economy.