Access to land, land use and the power of traditional leaders in South Africa's former homelands 30 years after democracy

Abstract

Introduction Much public discourse and literature on the South African land question revolves around the slow pace of land reform, weak tenure security, failed land reform projects, expropriation debates and other matters. However, fewer studies have assessed how access to land, land use and the power of traditional leaders have changed the status quo. Methodology The study draws evidence from the broader national project commissioned by the South African government to understand current farming practices, land access, and governance in seven provinces, to inform the norms and standards that will guide land subdivision and change. The research project was meant to inform the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Act (Act 39 of 2024; PDALA), which President Cyril Ramaphosa signed in January 2025. Using the Agrarian Political Economy as a guiding framework, this study was concerned with the dynamics of land-allocation power, the various class differences, the role of the state, and the shifting conceptions of land toward commodification. Results This qualitative study found that colonial and apartheid legacies still shape land access and that accessing land has become a challenge because of the limited availability of vacant land. Plot sizes issued to households are increasingly becoming much smaller than those issued 30 years ago. Land access remains harder for the poor, and, in some villages, it is contingent on having the means to develop the land, although women can access land, albeit in dire straits. While rural households have, in general, left arable field cultivation, they continue to cultivate gardens adjacent to homesteads and keep livestock. This paper holds that traditional leaders still wield disproportionate political power over communities, in a paternalistic way, even though there is a general feeling among local communities that their tenure is relatively secure.