Land reform in South Africa can be a win-win situation
The Democratic Alliance's (DA) vision for rural development and land reform in South Africa is informed by the four pillars of the Open, Opportunity Society for All: Redress, Reconciliation, Diversity and Delivery. It is a vision of a thriving rural economy in which the injustices of South Africa's apartheid and colonial past are effectively and decisively redressed through a combination of sustained job-creating economic growth, and a well-managed and appropriately resourced restitution programme.
The DA fully supports the need for a land reform programme in South Africa. It is a moral imperative that South Africa's skewed land ownership patterns are amended. We believe that the 1913 Land Act was apartheid's original sin. In decreeing that only certain parts of the country (a mere 7% of the total land mass) could be owned by black South Africans, the Act forced millions of people off the land and deprived them of their means of survival. Apartheid's compounding crime - Bantu Education - deliberately deprived black South Africans of the ability to acquire the education and skills with which to gain a foothold in the industrialising economy.
We live with the consequences of this history today, and we have to address them.
The DA believes that any programme of redress must be based on the rule of law and the constitutional provisions that govern property ownership; only then can land reform be a "win-win" scenario, in which the rights of present and future landowners are protected.
Our approach to land reform has always been about the creation of genuine, broad-based opportunity, coupled with the expansion and diversification of South Africa's commercial agriculture sector to increase productivity, create more rural jobs and promote food security. What this requires is an energetic and focused government that is willing and able to perform its own functions effectively, while at the same time creating economic conditions that are conducive to sustained growth, attract investment, and create jobs in order, ultimately, to eradicate the grinding poverty gripping the majority of our rural communities.