Book sheds light on one of the most complex questions in South Africa

LAND MATTERS – SA’S FAILED LAND REFORMS AND THE ROAD AHEAD Tembeka Ngcukaitobi Loot.co.za (R240) PENGUIN

AS WE all know, land reform has by and large been a huge failure and massive disappointment to those who wish see a redress of past injustices during the dark days of apartheid. Why has this happened? And will expropriation without compensation solve the problem?

What can be done to get the land programme back on track? Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, author of this searching book, puts these urgent questions forward, together with much more.

Going back to the history pages, he shows how African communal land ownership was used by colonial rulers to deny that Africans owned the land at all. He explores the effect of the Land Acts, “Bantustans” and forced removals. And with all this, he considers ANC policy on land throughout the 20th century.

Land Matters unpacks the developments in land redistribution, restitution and tenure reform, and offers suggestions for what needs to be done in the future. The book also considers the power of chiefs, the tension between communal land ownership and the desire for private title, the failure of the willing-buyer, willing-seller approach, women and land reform, and the role of banks.

A thought-provoking book.