Submission to amend the national policy for beneficiary selection and land allocation
This is the Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) submission to the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development on the national policy for beneficiary selection and land allocation. The analysis of the policy is based on our interpretation of the injunction in Section 25(5) of the Constitution, which requires that:
The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures to enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis [RSA 1996: Section 25(5)].
Our understanding of land redistribution or equitable access to land is that it is a right-based programme, just like restitution and tenure reform. We therefore believe that beneficiary selection and land allocation should ensure equitable access to land. The policy presents an opportunity to right the shortcomings of land reform, which has been characterised by pro-elite distribution of land reform resources due to policy bias and corruption. PLAAS makes specific comments on sections on agricultural beneficiary selection and land allocation processes including control measures, and suggests some changes to ensure that beneficiaries are selected equitably in the allocation of land. PLAAS recommends that the policy should not be adopted in its current form but withdrawn and redrafted after due consideration of the arguments raised in the submission.
Read the submission here.
