How The Wealthy Are Stealing Land From The Poor

Land reform should aim to address poverty and create livelihood opportunities for those at the lower end of the historically disadvantaged spectrum. This isn’t happening, according to the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies. Instead, land allocation and access to resources are skewed in favour of well-off beneficiaries.

Currently, land reform beneficiaries gain access to land through the leasehold system introduced by the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) in 2006, and put into operation by the State Land Lease and Disposal Policy (SLLDP) of 2013 (revised in 2019). But land reform governance is weak and there is a lack of transparency and accountability. Indeed, research undertaken by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies shows that elite capture of public resources in land reform is on the rise.

Elite capture occurs when “resources transferred for the benefit of the masses are usurped by a few, usually politically connected and/ or economically powerful groups, at the expense of the less economically and/or politically influential groups”. The process unfolds at various points within the land reform process due to a number of factors. These include manipulative practices where different actors exploit policy ambiguities and institutional weaknesses, and implicit and explicit forms of corruption, nepotism and rent-seeking practices.

SLLDP policy broadly identifies “those who are racially classified as African, Coloured and Indian” as the “historically disadvantaged persons” to be prioritised as beneficiaries. However, as it now stands, the category includes state bureaucrats and well-off beneficiaries with privileged access to material resources, knowledge and information.