In 1997 South Africa came out with a policy aimed at addressing the legacy of apartheid in respect of an unequal division of land in the country. About 3.5 million people were moved from rural and urban areas between 1960 and 1980 and deposited in the reserves or areas designed for the exclusive occupation of black people. The new land policy attempts to deal with the resultant problems. The policy advocates a three-pronged approach to land reform encompassing (i) land restitution, (ii) land redistribution and (iii) land tenure reform. A number of projects have been carried out under these three aspects. This study aims to investigate and evaluate the results of a completed land restitution case. The Mfengu of Tsitsikamma was chosen as a case study because the people have moved back and are now living on their land. The Mfengu were dispossessed of their land in 1977 by the apartheid government and their land was returned in 1994. Although this case was processed outside of the land restitution legislation (Restitution of Land Rights Act, 22 of 1994), all restitution cases where people return to their original land have to deal with the problems of resettlement. From its involvement in various involuntary resettlement projects, the World Bank concluded that the new communities of resettlers should be designed as a viable settlement system equipped with infrastructure and services and integrated in the regional socio-economic context. The host communities receiving the resettlers should be assisted to overcome possible adverse social and environmental effects from the increased population density. These concerns are valid for the South African situation, and the question is, whether this resettlement encapsulates the above. The goals of the research are twofold. To evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the resettlement project and its sustainability. In particular focussing on the constraints to the implementation of the land policy. Research questions include the following: How was the project carried out? Is the resettlement integrated into the socio-economic and development planning of the area? How viable and sustainable is the new settlement? What are the major problems and challenges facing this area and how can they be overcome?

This paper is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master‟s Degree in the Department of Public and Development Management March 2015 / This research presents an assessment of the socio-economic impact of land restitution on people‟s livelihoods with specific reference to the Ehlanzeni District. South Africa`s constitution since the advent of democracy, accompanied by the adoption of its post-apartheid legislative framework, provides for restitution of the land as a way of correcting historical imbalances. More specifically, section 25(7) of the South African constitution provides the opportunity for people who were dispossessed of their land after the 19th June 1913 to have their land rights restored by means of restitution. South Africa‟s land restitution process is predicated on restorative forms of historical redress, which is counter to retributive forms of historical redress. The lodging of land claims requires historical evidence of dispossession, and in most rural cases claims are lodged collectively by communities rather than individual citizens. This may be problematic due to social differentiation that may have been caused by years of societal breakdown. Land dispossession was one of the most important determinants of the social and economic configurations in South Africa; therefore land restitution constitutes a central aspect of correcting historical injustice and a clear understanding of the restitution processes is necessary in order to understand the impact of restitution programmes. This study adopted qualitative research methods since the issues to be researched are people‟s experiences, which are dynamic and complex phenomena. An assessment of the claims was done; semi-structured interviews were conducted with the purpose of assessing the implications of the restitution, including interviewing the farming community to understand their experiences after restitution had taken place and their perception of the impact of restitution projects on their livelihoods. ii The interviews revealed a great deal of improvement in the ownership, greater access to infrastructure and to an extent, the ability of the beneficiaries to run farms. However, even when participants expressed their commitment and satisfaction, the socio-economic impact on their livelihoods are limited. The study recommends an in depth interrogation of the small-scale farming model and particular emphasis placed on monitoring of projects.

Thesis (M. Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2011 / This study was conducted in Limpopo province in Makhado municipality, Vhembe district. It concentrated on Levubu farms. There are seven Communal Property Associations (CPAs) which occupy about 258.7889 hectares of land; there are Ravele, Masakona, Tshakhuma, Shigalo, Tshivhazwaulu, Tshitwani, Ratombo but this study will concentrate only on Shigalo CPA. Two hundred and seventy respondents in Shigalo land restitution project in Makhado municipality were interviewed on sustainability of the restitution projects. It is argued that for a sustainability of restitution project, a number of requirements must be met. These include a clear and coherent vision, full participation and ownership by the beneficiaries of the project; political support at the highest level; appropriate mechanisms for implementation; sufficient funding; mutually- supportive linkages with other relevant areas of policy, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and the intended beneficiaries as well as taking care of the environment for the future generation. The case study was conducted to investigate the sustainability of restitution project in Shigalo restitution community. The results obtained in this study show that Shigalo beneficiaries have ownership and full participation in the land restitution farms. It also pointed out that Shigalo beneficiaries were capacitated to increase the level of farm production and farm management skills, and they were assisted by strategic partnership. With reference to environmental conditions, the results show that the sustainability of agricultural project is also controlled by good agricultural practices that are environmental friendly. There were environmental constrains that affected farming in Shigalo projects such as drought, veld fire and frost. Shigalo restitution farms get advice on environmental problems from the Department of Agriculture. Industrial, financial and technical support will play a vital role in sustaining restitution 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

The history of the Albania Settlement of Griqualand West is examined from its beginnings in 1866 to its demise in 1878. Albania was very much a product of its time. Nineteenth century British colonial policy was basically expansionist, despite minor fluctuations caused by the various influences affecting it, such as the Free Trade and Mercantilist doctrines, social factors within Britain and events within the colonies themselves. From 1815 colonial settlements were fairly common in British territory, especially after Wakefield had provided a convincing theoretical framework for them. Within South Africa itself there are differing interpretations of what motivated British policy and of the role of the missionaries, while the changing political and economic landscape markedly affected Britain's decisions. British Government settlement schemes were undertaken mainly for social or military reasons, but there were also many settlements founded by land speculators. The economically depressed 1860s hit the Eastern Cape hard and this, combined with the transition to sheep farming, which created considerable land hunger, made the Albania scheme attractive to Eastern Cape farmers. The Griqua people led by Andries Waterboer had made a great effort to establish hegemony north of the Orange River, over the Sotho-Tswana and other Griqua chiefs. By 1866 the attempt had failed and Free State farmers were encroaching onto Nicholas Waterboer's lands. When Waterboer's agent, David Arnot, proposed the establishment of a settlement of Albany men to act as a "Wall of Flesh", Waterboer accepted the idea. Arnot's motivation was also land speculation in an area where diamonds were likely to push up land values. From its inception the settlement was dogged by quarrels, mainly over land, amongst the parties involved - the Griqua, brutally removed to make way for the settlers; the settlers, dissatisfied with the land tenure system and their administration; Arnot; the British and the encroaching Boer farmers . After the 1871 annexation of Griqualand West, into which Albania was absorbed, it took seven years, two Land Commissions, a Land Court and a special Land Claims Commissioner to sort out the tangled claims and bring order to the area and Albania's history to a close.

Thesis ( M.Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / Environmental impacts from a land claim-discarded settlement development are positive, negative and cumulative by nature, within the broad scope of environmental impacts there has been much focus on the physical environment neglecting the socio economic and other political factors of the environment. This study presents from a total environmental perspective the investigation of the environmental impacts of land claim-discarded settlement development in Mamahule ga-Matsaung. Both primary and secondary sources of data were used for the purposes of this study. The study used the non-probability purposive sampling for the entire targeted population. The study used both thick descriptions and qualitative techniques to analyse the collected data. Thick descriptions were used to explain the environmental impacts of various temporal phases as well as processes settlement development and land claim, while quantitative (Leopold matrix and Cost Benefit Analysis) were used to evaluate environmental impacts and economic valuations of the land claim and the settlement development. The study shows that the Environmental Impact Assessment should be conducted prior the development of any settlement to avoid multiple negative environmental impacts on the environment. The study also highlights the impact that land claim has on development activities and the way in which settlement development can delay the process of a land claim. The study arrived to a conclusions that both settlement development and land claim impacted differently on the environment. / National Research Foundation (NRF) Scholarship

Thesis (M.Sc. Agriculture (Agricultural Economics)) -- University of Limpopo, 2018 / The Land Restitution Programme was designed to assist farmers through support for infrastructure, marketing, finance and extension services. This initiative was intended to support job creation, food security and support agricultural growth. Nevertheless, poverty and food insecurity have profound implications for health and welfare. However, household dietary diversity score has long been recognized by nutritionists as a key element of high-quality diets. This study examined the effects of the land restitution on households’ food security in Waterberg district. The objectives of this study were to profile households’ socioeconomic/ demographic characteristics, assess the food security status of land restitution beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries, examine the effects of Land Restitution Programme on food security and investigate the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in accessing land and other inputs for agricultural purposes in Waterberg district. Primary data was collected from 110 smallholder farmers using purposive and random sampling techniques. Dietary diversity score was used to assess the food security status of land restitution beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries while logistic regression model was used to examine the effect of Land Restitution Programme on their food security status. The results of dietary diversity score revealed that 70% of the households were food secure while 30% of the households are food insecure. The age of the household head, access to the market and land size were found to be positively significant at 10% level while beneficiary status was found to be positively related to food security status and significant at 5% level. Variables which were found positively significant at 1% level are gender of the household head, off-farm income and access to credit. Problems affecting households differs from lack of access to credit facilities to lack of grazing land. Based on the findings the study recommends prioritisation of women agricultural projects; diversification of income; provision of smallholder credit facilities in rural areas and provision land to farmers so that they increase their production which give them an advantage to become food secure. Key words: Dietary diversity, logit model, food security and Land restitution.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Johannesburg, August 2015. / This thesis explores the hypothesis that South Africa’s land reform programme is based on a set of assumptions about the country’s past which are inadequate and have contributed to the failure of policy. The impact of these assumptions is that they support particular models for restitution and rural economic development which became ‘accepted wisdom’ within international development agencies, government, and amongst land activists in South Africa, but which were and still are inappropriate in the South African context. To test this hypothesis I look at the history of land settlement and agriculture in Mopani district of Limpopo province. In particular, I look at how ordinary people accessed and lost rights to land over the nineteenth and twentieth century, and how land became tied up in struggles for political authority and access to resources. I show how the importance of ethnic identities and a sense that land belongs to ‘indigenous’ people of a particular ethnicity, deepened during the Bantustan era. I argue that policymakers could have learned from past government policies. This includes the 1936 Native Trust and Land Act which called for the state to purchase farms from private landowners for African settlement, and smallholder irrigation schemes and co-operatives, which were intended to improve agricultural production in the reserves and homelands. What this history reveals is that land settlement patterns and experiences of land loss were far more complex than the simplified narratives on which land restitution was based. The poor performance of agriculture in reserves and bantustans cannot be blamed on past government policies intended to destroy a peasantry, or on land loss alone, rather there were many challenges and constraints. Women maintained an interest in agriculture throughout the twentieth century, but were not taken seriously by those attempting to improve African agriculture. Africans interested in commercial farming were constrained in how much land they could access. The idea that Africans are naturally communal, and that restitution and development should target ‘communities’ is deeply problematic. Policy failed to take into account these realities. The consequences have been that land restitution has failed to bring redress, restituted farms have failed as commercial operations, those with a real interest in agriculture continue to face constraints, and smallholder irrigation schemes continue to perform poorly.

In anthropological studies place is often taken for granted, “just” the locale where other interesting, more significant things happen (De Jongh 2006:79). I argue that rather than a mere backdrop to activities, the landscape of Orania is significant and that physical place is essential for the construction of an Orania identity. I ethnographically examine whether the physical setting of Orania can be seen as a prime signifying system through which a particular other interesting, more significant things happen (De Jongh 2006:79). I argue that rather than a mere backdrop to activities, the landscape of Orania is significant and that physical place is essential for the construction of an Orania identity. I ethnographically examine whether the physical setting of Orania can be seen as a prime signifying system through which a particular Afrikaner ethnic identity, as well as a set of socio-cultural values is communicated. Occupying the physical land is a form of collective identity that helps create ethnic identities (Tilley 2006:11-13). Orania is an authentic place-bound expression of this quest for identity and Oranians define their identity through their model of space and of their land. The physical boundaries are expanded when support groups outside of the settlement become an integral part of the activities in the community, and socio-political boundaries are tested by an inand outflux of community members and the constant presence of South African and international press, and visitors. iv Landscape does not merely comprise the land, but also includes the lived experiences and attitudes of the inhabitants. Landscape as text, “a medium to be read for the ideas, practices and contexts constituting the culture which created it” (Ley 1985:419) proves to be a legitimate and constructive way to make sense of the landscape. As with texts, the landscape as text is subject to multiple readings. The focus on textual landscape offers an expanded perspective on space and place, and in this case texts also amplify the Oranian space exponentially. Different types of landscapes - culturescapes, landscape as text and textual landscapes - are building blocks in the construction of an Orania identity. Finally, I would emphasise that Orania, and by extension this study, is not just an academic concept, but a product of the lived experiences and opinions of people who are closely connected to land of their own.. / Anthropology & Archaeology / M.A. (Anthropology)

Submitted in the partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Arts to the Department of African Literature University of the Witwatersrand, 2017 / Sol Plaatje’s novel Mhudi revisits prominent events detailing the relationship between the various clans that occupied the South African Landscape in the 1800’s. This story is a reflection of the conflict that arises between the different groups, how it is overcome and prospects of a new harmonious beginning. Plaatje writes his novel in the light of the occurrences in South Africa following the 1913 Natives Land Act. Plaatje uses various elements of culture and literary aesthetics to pose Mhudi as an allegory of the 1913 Natives Land Act. Literature is a carrier of culture and knowledge that can be used as a credible source to assess the past, the present and the future. Plaatje uses a story of love to elucidate how love conquers evil, the story of land and the knowledge and cultural significance it holds. Through this he highlights the wisdom that lies in the knowledge and application of culture through reverence. / XL2018