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LAND REFORM: EQUITABLE ACCESS BILL STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS
- 21 February 2025
- Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development
- SA Legal Academy
The National Assembly’s Land Reform & Rural Development Committee has issued a media statement expressing concern about the time being taken to develop equitable land access legislation. This followed a briefing from Land Reform & Rural Development Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso on the status of a Land Reform Framework/Land Redistribution Bill.
According to the committee statement, the Bill is expected to address issues raised in the 2017 report on key legislation requiring prioritisation. The report included a draft ‘illustrative’ National Land Reform Framework Bill and was prepared by a high-level panel appointed in 2016 to assess progress with the legislation necessary to accelerate fundamental change.
Although a presentation document circulated at the committee meeting is not yet available, the statement points to members’ frustration at the absence of ‘specific’, detailed proposals for addressing ongoing challenges – including farm evictions and the complexities faced by communal property associations. In the view of committee chair Mangaqa Mncwango (IFP), while the Department of Land Reform & Rural Development may well be ‘good at identifying … challenges’, it appears to be ‘weak in crafting solutions’.
In its present form, the draft Bill is understood to include provisions for the ‘co-ordination of post-settlement support’ and ‘the question of budget’ – or so the Minister is said to have remarked. He is also quoted as having attributed ‘the declining allocation (of) land (for) redistribution’ to ‘a lack of political will to tackle the land question’.
Once finalised – and subject to Cabinet approval – the draft Bill will be released for public comment.
- media statement
- 2017 high level panel report documents
- 2017 ‘illustrative’ draft National Land Reform Framework Bill
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch
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