Together we can make land expropriation work for the benefit of all

MEETING South Africa’s land reform ambitions poses a serious challenge.

Implementation is slow, the policies are confused, legislation is unhelpful, public institutions are weak, skills are limited, information is inconclusive and resources are inadequate.

The political response has been to blame the constitution. The debate about changing the constitution surfaces starkly different perceptions.

There are those who argue that expropriation of land without compensation (EWC) will erode property rights that are the foundation of individual liberty and that if property rights collapse so too will the economy.

Those who hold this view warn that a third of the money borrowed from banks in South Africa is borrowed against the asset value of farms and if that is threatened loans will be withheld, investment will dry up, production will slump and food prices will rise.

The majority of South Africans, however, have an entirely different lived experience to those who make the economic arguments against EWC. They have a long memory of brutal subjugation by colonial authorities and generations of forced removals without compensation handed down by oral tradition, borne out by the historical record and ingrained in the culture of millions of people. Many continue to live in extreme poverty. They see through those who make the economic argument that they should now be reasonable for their own good.

On the one hand, there is an attempt to move forward by ignoring our past. There are those who feel that we can’t make progress by looking backwards. They feel that we need to move on, protecting what has been created and using it in the interests of all.

But for those who, 24 years into democracy, see little benefit from investment in their lives, it is easy to conclude that a piece of land may improve their lives and that expropriation without compensation is beneficial to them. In the face of these sharply different views, parliament has set itself the task of introducing EWC without damaging the economy. How can that be done?

Compensation will have to be subject to judicial oversight, based on the principles of justice and equity, accepting that just and equitable compensation may be zero in particular cases.

The process will have to be regulated by expropriation legislation setting out procedures, powers of the state, rights of landowners and beneficiaries and it will have to be subject to judicial review.

The introduction of expropriation without compensation while protecting the economy will have to be backed by a package of reforms. Thrashing out these reforms will require hard bargaining and compromise. We can all make a contribution. Landowners can review their land holdings and work with District Land Committees to identify land for redistribution. Those with land under claim can work with the Commission on the Restitution of Land Rights to finalise claims. Financial institutions can work with government to make investment capital available.

The government can increase resources for land reform and release state land for urban and rural development. Traditional authorities can work with government and communities to secure the land rights of families living in former homelands.

Municipalities can transfer title deeds to homeowners and release new land for housing. Farmers can work with the department of agriculture to support the development of smallholder farmers. The government can streamline procedures for processing restitution claims. Government, farmers and aid agencies can work with NGOs to improve post-settlement support to land reform beneficiaries and smallholder farmers.

None of this will proceed easily or simply. But there is more goodwill than the fractious debates about land may indicate.

Setou is chief executive and Whittaker a director of the Vumelana Advisory Fund, an NGO that helps beneficiaries of the land reform programme put their land to profitable use.