Without reliable data, direction on land
reform remains elusive, writes Peter Setou
For more than three decades South Africa’s land reform programme has stirred emotion, hope and frustration in equal measure. It remains one of the country’s most urgent moral and economic imperatives yet, progress has been painfully slow. The question is not whether land reform should happen, but why it continues to underdeliver. At the heart of this lies a simple truth: without reliable data, clear direction and effective delivery, land reform risks becoming a noble idea without any real impact.
We often talk about land reform as if its challenges are obvious and its trajectory is well understood. But that assumption is misleading and misinformed. The country still lacks accurate, up-to-date data on crucial aspects such as post-settlement support, how land is being used after transfer and who truly benefits from it. We have not built a system that tracks success or failure once land has been transferred to the claimants.
According to the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development’s Annual Report and as published in a study by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), about 9.5 million hectares have been transferred through redistribution and restitution between 1996 to 2024, representing roughly about 11% of South Africa’s commercial farmland. At this pace, it could take possibly half a century to reach the 30% redistribution target set by government.
However, other researchers have challenged these figures. An analysis by economists Johann Kirsten and Wandile Sihlobo of Stellenbosch University in 2022 argued that roughly 24% of agricultural land has, in fact, either been transferred or had ownership rights restored through a combination of state programmes and private transactions. Even so, the numbers tell us little about what truly matters, such as how much of this land is productive, how many projects have collapsed and how many beneficiary communities are benefiting from their land. We do not know the accurate number on how many hectares lie fallow, how many Communal Property Associations (CPAs) function effectively, or where post-settlement support has failed. This absence of credible data is the first barrier to meaningful reform.
Without data, direction falters. Over the past 30 years, land reform policy has been pulled in different directions by shifting political priorities. The establishment of a standalone Ministry of Land Reform and Rural Development is a promising step, but a new department alone cannot fix decades-long of implementation crisis. What is needed is a coherent strategy that links land restitution and redistribution to productive land use, local enterprise, rural development and most importantly, sustainable livelihoods.
At Vumelana, we have seen what works and what does not work. Our Community Private Partnership (CPP) model demonstrates that success is possible when communities and private investors work together. In these partnerships, communities bring land and labour, while private sector partners provide the capital, technical know-how and the market access required to make land productive. This balance of resources, risks and rewards has proven effective in generating jobs, income and skills for land reform beneficiaries. Yet, despite its success, this model remains on the margins of the national debate, when, in truth, it should be central to it. It is also critical to emphasize that these partnerships also cannot happen in a vacuum. The state and other key partners have to be intentional about supporting these partnerships. This entails, amongst others, funding not for profit initiatives such as those pioneered by Vumelana to support and broker these partnerships.
Delivery remains the final and perhaps most persistent stumbling block. Too many restitution and redistribution programmes fail not because of bad intentions, but because of poor governance, weak institutions and a lack of post-settlement support. Many CPAs are plagued by disputes, inadequate record-keeping and leadership gaps. As a result, vast tracts of restituted land lie fallow as symbols of unrealised justice.
However, where delivery works, the results are transformative. The Barokologadi community in the North West turned its restored land into a thriving game reserve through a CPP partnership, creating jobs and sustainable livelihoods. In Mpumalanga, the Giba CPA revitalised previously idle land through investments in irrigation and energy infrastructure.
Across the country, Vumelana has facilitated 26 such partnerships, attracting more than R1 billion in private investment and benefiting over 16 000 households. These are not pilot projects, they are proof that, with the right support, land reform can work.
Still, these are isolated victories in a landscape of underperformance. According to government figures published via the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS), as of August 2023 the State Land Holding Account Entity still held 2.54 million hectares of productive farmland and leased it out community beneficiaries.
Official records on the government website show that 80 664 land claims have been settled, benefitting 2.1 million people and restoring 3.5 million hectares at a cost of roughly R40 billion, including financial compensation. Yet the Commission of Restitution of Land Rights 2025/26 budget allocation is only R3.7 billion for the current year, which is a nominal 5% increase that, once adjusted for inflation, represents a real decline. This underfunding erodes delivery capacity and slows progress even further.
Land reform cannot be reduced to the number of hectares transferred. The real measure of success lies in what happens after the land has been transferred; whether land is productive, whether jobs are created and whether communities can sustain themselves. That is why South Africa needs to invest in credible data systems, apply consistent policies and build institutional delivery capacity. Reliable information will guide decisions; clear direction will ensure alignment and effective delivery will transform hectares into livelihoods.
Peter Setou is the Chief Executive of the Vumelana Advisory Fund (Vumelana) a non-profit organisation that was established in 2012 to help communities in the land reform programme to put their land to productive use through its Community Private Partnership (CPP) model.
