I am not interested in many policy documents that people write that end up gathering dust in their cabinets while our people are crying out for help. I am not interested in meetings, workshops and strategies. I say we walk the walk before we talk the talk! The time for paper-pushing is long over. The time for service delivery is long overdue. (Speech by the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs Ms Lulu Xingwana in the Vaal Region, 26 November 2006.)
There is a growing consensus both within government and outside it that the land reform programme is not meeting its objectives. The principal shortfalls relate to:
- the extent to which land reform is meeting its constitutional obligations of securing rights and equitable access to land and resources;
- the extent to which there is effective co-operative governance in the delivery of the land reform programme, which, while the primary responsibility rests with DLA, is effectively a joint programme of government spanning the three spheres;
- the pace of land reform delivery in relation to stated targets;
- the quality of support provided to those receiving land under the land reform programme;
- the sustainability of many projects transferred through the Restitution, LRAD and Commonage programmes; and
- the social and economic returns on the investment of state funds and the limited impact of the programmes on poverty reduction.
At the same time there is mounting frustration amongst those waiting to acquire land and those who have already received it. There is also frustration in government, which is struggling to develop the mechanisms and retain the capacity to make land reform work. Frustration is centred on policy and strategy processes that ‘gather dust in filing cabinets', and that do not translate into practical action on the ground with measurable outcomes and indicators of success.
It seems clear that the Strategy set out in this document, which is the product of more than a year's work, must take root in a difficult context. It must articulate with a number of other strategy initiatives within DLA, each with their own champions and perspectives on what must be done, that currently run on parallel tracks. It must be internalised and operationalised in an institutional context that presents many challenges. A recent statement by the Minister gives frank insights into the current institutional setting:
After several consultations with the Department of Land Affairs' senior management to review progress in the implementation of key programme and chart a way forward, a number of issues came out such as challenges in the implementation of land reform and restitution programmes, the management and administration of state land and leases, land audits and human resource management, among others.
Consultations also revealed that capacity constraints, affecting the ability to deliver, the lack of personnel to manage leases and plan at provincial level, were raised with management at the Department of Land Affairs.
Currently there are about 1 000 vacancies in the Department of Land Affairs that need to be filled... On the basis of ongoing concerns about lack of service delivery in the Department of Land Affairs, I have reached the conclusion that there are leadership and management challenges in the Department that have led to these problems. In an effort to intervene and ensure speedy service delivery by the Department, I have asked the Public Service Commission to investigate and assess areas that require intervention to speed up delivery, and report back on what can be done to correct them.(Statement by Minister Lulu Xingwana, 22 November 2006).
The adoption/ adaptation and subsequent roll-out of the Strategy will require decisive and far-sighted leadership coupled with a high level of management skill to adapt, upgrade and realign existing processes and systems to enable decentralised and comprehensive area-based planning and settlement support to be put in place.
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