Land reform still holds key to envisaged better future

The commemoration of 28 years of freedom in our country gives one an opportunity to reflect on what the future would have looked like, especially for the previously disadvantaged masses.

While it is important to acknowledge our sovereignty, thought must be given to the fact our sovereignty is also fragile, in terms of how our freedom might be decayed by corruption and not prioritising the process of renewal and social compact.

These will go a long way in dealing with the undesirable state we are now dealing with.

A thorough national introspection is needed among all South Africans to reflect on the past, present and map a collective way that will be ideal for the country’s future survival. As the cliché says, our past will shape our future. It is unfortunate that we find ourselves as a nation where we are after the seed for the current situation was sowed in the past. Breaking the shackles of apartheid and colonialism for SA to become a prosperous nonracial and nonsexist society remains a desired aspiration.

Added to that, is the elusive ideal to live in harmony and unity in our diversity, and the wealth of the country shared among its citizens.

All the desirable futures have been documented in the Freedom Charter and the new constitution of SA.

But quoting from these documents today is like trying to touch a mirage in the horizon.

Our people have been sold a dummy; the future we expected as a nation has not yet been realised.

Freedom is more than the right to vote. Today the right to vote has become like an empty shell.

For people to be free, land is key. The government must fast track land redistribution, not only by expropriating land but by also prioritising post-settlement support to complete land reform and speed up wealth creation.

More impetus and efficiency is needed to speed up land reform, especially land tenure reform, to preserve the rights of farm dwellers and labour tenants.

The constitution says that a person or community whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practice is entitled, to the extent provided by an act of parliament, either to tenure which is legally secure or to comparable redress.

The Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Act 2 of 2018 has helped to resolve tenure rights disputes between farmers and farm dwellers.

The amendment closed loopholes in the initial Extension of Security of Tenure Act, which had a number of confines that made it easier for farm dwellers to be evicted.

The description of the occupier of land was too broadly defined and susceptible to wrong interpretations. The act categorises some farm dwellers as the main or primary occupiers while others, such as wives and children are secondary occupiers.

By categorising them as such opens them up to some degree of vulnerability, which leads to unwarranted evictions. A pat on the back goes to the department of agriculture, land reform and rural development for amending the act, putting to an end arbitrary evictions happening on farms.