Thesis (M. Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011

Thesis (M.DEV.) --University of Limpopo, 2012. / This research presents a study to investigate impact of support services rendered to land restitution claim settlement, with a focus on Masakona community in Makhado municipality in Limpopo Province There is encouraging evidence from a number of studies, however that the period after land settlement or restitution is the most critical because the success of land reform is not only measured by the number of hectors restitution, but by the support services rendered to those restituted projects. However, in this study, indicators were developed with overall purpose of determining or assessing whether specific improvement is been realized after implementation of agricultural support services. The indicators include improved access to financial,( implements , mechanization and job creation), access to extension support (improved crop production owing to provided advisory services); access to market information; and capacity building (change in farmer’s skills and knowledge). The study includes a review of international and local literature on land reform (especially land restitution). It is based on repeated field visits to Masakona land restitution projects, interview with employed beneficiaries of Masakona restituted project, CPA management committee members and extension officers from Limpopo Department of Agriculture who are servicing the restituted projects. The findings of this study point to the need for the state to rethink its strategy on post- settlement support and the involvement of a range of institutions, especially local government, for the sustainability and productivity of these projects.

Thesis (M.A. (Sociology)) --University of Limpopo, 2010 / The study is on land restitution and development departing from the assumption that the return of a people’s land should contribute to the enhancement of their wellbeing. The question is does the common land-use objective of beneficiaries of land restitution match their share historical right to the returned land? What should actions on the returned land be based – livelihood needs or restorative justice? A profile of the livelihoods of the Manavhelas showed how the land restitution process can be used to reduce poverty amongst previously dispossessed Black South Africans. Methodological triangulation was used to achieve the above. It was observed in this case that land restitution is yet to realise poverty reduction because of gaps in its conception and inadequacies in the implementation. Closing the gap and linking the land restitution programme to the livelihood needs of its beneficiaries will improve its capacity to deliver on its promise

Thesis (M.A. (Political Science))--University of Limpopo, 2007 / Since 1913 black South Africans have been forcefully dispossessed of land under the racist land laws of the successive white South African governments. In 1994 the black government began to pass land laws that were supposed to provide blacks with land ownership rights. Ten years later blacks have re-claimed less than four percent of the eighty seven percent of the land they were dispossessed of. The failure to return dispossessed land to blacks is attributed to the ideology of the current government with respect to its land policy. This study attempts to fill the void regarding the ideological implications of the land reform policy of the post-apartheid government. We speculate that neo-liberal implications are dominant within this policy. Social democracy can overcome the failure of the policy as it is cost-effective and efficient and attempts to achieve social justice. It can therefore afford dispossessed and landless blacks land ownership.

Thesis (M. Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2013

Thesis (M. Dev. ) --University of Limpopo, 2014 / The legacy of apartheid has left the current democratic government of South Africa grappling with vast challenges. Eighteen years of governance has not been enough for the state to address issues of land redistribution, and in particular redistribution of commercial farm and the improvement of their functionality after redistribution. The main aim of the study is to assess the general functionality, productivity and challenges of redistributed farms. Qualitative research methodology (descriptive research design) is used to diagnose historical and current issues impacting on the functionality, productivity and challenges facing LCPA. Probability random sampling, more especially stratified random sampling was used as a sampling method. The results indicated that the farm is experiencing a number of challenges, conflicting views regarding the farm path. Due to the lack of financial support, malfunctioning or aging infrastructure, and most importantly the lack of agricultural technical and farming knowledge. Challenges experienced among others include the following, consistent decline in production, lack of technical and strong agricultural farming knowledge, lack of persistent strong financial support; and lack of integrated support from agricultural stakeholders. To change the status quo, consistent training of beneficiaries in farming and farm management has to be tailor made for them, and a multidimensional support for beneficiaries has to be put in place.

The phenomenon of the farm attack has engendered an angry debate in South Africa today. Controversially, the South African media has paid great attention to violence against white farmers amidst a seemingly endless flood of violence against black farm workers. The now commonplace tales of farm attacks incite racial tension and provoke paranoia, leading one to question why they are repeated at all. Recent works by South African authors have engaged this question, including Jonny Steinberg's Midlands (2002), J. M. Coetzee's Disgrace (1999), and Breyten Breytenbach's Dog Heart (1998). Critics have accused these works of perpetuating racism with their grim depictions of black-on-white violence but have failed to recognize the manner in which these authors contextualize the violence. I argue that each work registers the farm attack as a land claim, made in an era of failed land reform. Furthermore, these works reflexively explore the pragmatics of circulating the stories.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Traditional top-down decision-making models have become unpopular since public institutions have been demanding more democracy at local level. New approaches and techniques have focused on how the majority of people can be involved in a bottom-up approach to development and decision making. Techniques, such as Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRAs), have identified people's concerns regarding the use of natural resources centred on land issues. Land is essentially a subject of public concern. Land as a spatial phenomenon controlled politically and used by all for survival and other purposes needs to be assessed in an integrated and time-spatial way for better planning and decision making. Geographical Information Systems (GISs) have often been used by statutory "experts" in evaluating, analysing and mapping of land and land-related features. GISs have a lot of potential in being applied as decision-making tools. If this is the case, how can public perceptions and politics be presented and mapped in a GIS to improve and democratise decision making even further? The study has investigated new methods of representing people's perspectives at grassroots level in a non-traditional way. A sub-region of the Lowveld, situated in the Mpumalanga province, has been selected because of the various kinds of land owners in the region. The Kruger National Park lies to the east of the study area, from where some black communities claim to have been removed. To the west of that is one of the districts of the former homeland KaNgwane, namely Nsikazi, and west of that two areas of intensive large-scale commercial fruit and vegetable production in the Nelspruit-White River and Kiepersol-Hazyview areas. Towards the escarpment north-west of these lie large commercial exotic forest plantations, owned mainly by Safcol and MandL Given the high demand and need for land from the overpopulated Nsikazi district, the process of land reform is a matter of great concern. White male commercial farmers in both regions where commercial farming is active were interviewed about their knowledge and perceptions of land reform. Various themes were presented to the farmers to comment on, namely the history of forced removals, land use, land potential, hydrology and where land reform should take place. Interviews were taped in Afrikaans, transcribed and translated to English. "Mental maps" were drawn on tracing paper overlaid on topographical maps of the Land Surveyor General, Mowbray. These were digitised and managed in Arclnfo, and displayed and analysed in ArcView, from where output maps were produced. The results of this technique proved to be very useful and can certainly broaden the use of GISs in decision making and public participation. However, GISs alone cannot be seen as the solution to better development and better decision-making. Public participation is of the utmost value in facilitating and initiating these processes. Land use planning needs to be the responsibility and concern of all land users and owners at a local level, where GISs can be applied as a tool to provide easier and more effective analysis and results for the implementation of initiatives. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Tradisionele bo-na-onder besluitnemingsmodelle het in die laaste paar dekades baie ongewild geraak met die totstandkoming van instellings wat die publiek se mening hoog ag en demokrasie op grondvlak probeer bevorder. Nuwe benaderings en tegnieke poog nou om die publiek se mening in 'n onder-na-bo benadering tot ontwikkeling en besluitneming te integreer. Grondhervorming is basies die erns van die publiek, meer so as die staat. Grond is 'n ruimtelike verskynsel wat polities beheer word maar deur die meerderheid gebruik word vir oorlewing asook ander doeleindes. Dit behoort op 'n tyd-ruimtelike basis op 'n geïntegreerde wyse vir beter beplanning en besluitneming ondersoek te word. Geografiese Inligtingstelsels (GISs) word hoofsaaklik deur statutêre "kenners" gebruik in die evaluering, analise en kartering van grond en verbandhoudende verskynsels. Dit beskik verder oor die potensiaal om in besluitnemingsprosesse gebruik te word. Die vraag ontstaan egter hoe die publiek se menings en politieke strukture met 'n GIS verteenwoordig en gekarteer kan word ter verbetering van besluitneming op 'n meer demokratiese wyse. Die studie het nuwe metodes ondersoek waarvolgens mense op grondvlak se persepsies op nie-tradisionele maniere verteenwoordig en ondersoek kan word. 'n Sub-streek van die Laeveld wat geleë is in die Mpumalanga provinsie, is geselekteer vanweë die verskeidenheid grondeienaars wat daar voorkom. Die Kruger Nasionale Park is geleë in die oostelike deel van die studiegebied vanwaar sekere swart gemeenskappe gedurende die Apartheidsregime verskuif is. Direk wes hiervan lê die voormalige tuisland KaNgwane se Nsikazi distrik en wes daarvan twee areas, naamlik Nelspruit-Witrivier en Kiepersol-Hazyview, waar die kommersiële boerdery van vrugte en groente op groot skaal beoefen word. In die noordwestelike gedeeltes van die studiegebied kom grootskaalse uitheemse bosbouplantasies voor wat aan Safcol en Mondi behoort. Met die stygende aanvraag na grond vir residensiële- en landbougebruik in die streek, veral vanuit die Nsikazi distrik, is grondhervorming en die toepassing daarvan, 'n probleem, indien nie 'n bedreiging, vir die meeste grondeienaars. Onderhoude is met blanke manlike kommersiële boere, in albei die kommersiële streke gevoer om hul menings en kennis van grondhervorming te ondersoek. Verskeie temas is as besprekingspunte gestel, naamlik die geskiedenis van gedwonge verskuiwings, grondgebruik, grondpotensiaal, water hulpbronne en waar hul meen grondhervorming sou moes plaasvind. Onderhoude was in Afrikaans opgeneem, getranskribeer en in Engels vertaal. "Kognitiewe kaarte" was op deursigtige papier geteken wat oor 'n reeks topografiese kaarte van die gebied gelê is. Die resultate is versyfer en in Arelnfo gemanipuleer en daarna in ArcView ontleed en vir verslaglewering gekarteer. Die resultate van die tegniek beloof om vir beide besluitnemers en die publiek as deelnemers in die proses baie bruikbaar te wees. Dit verbreed ook die gebruik en toepassing van GISs en die sisteem se vermoëns. GISs kan egter nie alleenlik aangewend word om ontwikkeling en besluitneming vir die publiek beter of meer aanvaarbaar te maak nie. Alle mense se deelname is van die uiterste belang en waarde in die inisiëring, fasilitering en implementering van strategieë en projekte. Grondgebruiksbeplanning moet die verantwoordelikheid van almal word wat grond op plaaslike vlak gebruik of besit, nie net van die wat deur 'n probleem of program, soos grondhervorming, geraak word nie. 'n GIS kan aangewend word om die prosesse van ontwikkeling en besluitneming te vergemaklik deur analises vinniger en op 'n meer effektiewe manier te ondersoek vir beter en meer demokratiese besluitneming.

In this study, a comparison was made between two different land reform models in the Sarah Baartman District of the Eastern Cape to, firstly; evaluate and identify factors that influence long-term sustainability and prosperity of farms owned and run by beneficiaries, and farms jointly owned by beneficiaries and former farmer / mentor in a share equity scheme, referred to as Farmworkers Equity Share Schemes (FWES), and secondly; to identify forms of government support in each of the two models. Mixed methods were used to collect data for the study. It involved the administration of structured interviews to beneficiaries, and semi-structured interviews with the mentor and government officials. The study found that the equity share scheme improved the livelihood of the beneficiaries in terms of getting annual dividends and acquiring new properties, empowered beneficiaries in decision-making in terms of having a say in financial expenditure on farm operations and the structuring of dividend pay-outs, and the project showed great potential of long-term sustainability and prosperity. Conversely, the beneficiary-owned and run project did not improve the lives of beneficiaries, was prone to infighting and fraught with organisational and management problems with no prospects of long-term sustainability and economic viability.

This policy brief will highlight the importance of municipal commonage in enhancing livelihoods of poor urban families. This will be followed by an overview of the role of municipal commonage in the land reform programme. Current challenges in securing benefits from municipal commonages are then outlined. Policy considerations to optimise benefits from commonages conclude the policy brief.