This thesis investigates the design of a model, methods and guidelines that may assist government agencies in South Africa to find a balance between the objective of biodiversity conservation and increased local economic development in cases of land restitution in protected areas. The data collection that was needed for this study took place from 2007 to 2009 and was limited to seven priority protected areas in Mpumalanga Province. The general model design was established via an extensive literature review and analysis of the legal background and formed the theoretical concept of this thesis. The general model design was used to devise the guidelines for co-management to be used by government agencies in South Africa for the possible implementation of the biodiversity conservation and local economic development mandates in cases of land restitution in protected areas, within their financial and institutional limitations. From the results, it is clear that a consolidated government position, agreed upon by all relevant government stakeholders, assists in keeping the land restitution process in protected areas within the legal framework. Through the analysis of the model design in the seven priority protected areas it was identified that additional information is needed to reach the preferred land claim settlement option per protected area such as the actual tourism record, a socio-economic assessment of the environment in which each protected area is embedded, and financial figures to make projections on current and future net profit calculations. Government should support all the land claim settlement options, as elaborated in the model design, which is not the case at the moment, and most alternative options, other than co-management, are currently still unclear and/or not feasible. This might have serious negative implications for the conservation agency, with the risk of compromising its mandate to manage areas of high biodiversity effectively. The methods that were developed to workshop the generic agreement frameworks with the land claimant representatives proved to assist in the land claimants making an informed choice within the legal framework and to tailor the land claim settlement option and agreements to their specific situation. / Development Studies / Ph. D. (Development Studies)

This thesis summarises research on the implementation of land restitution policy in the old West Bank Location, in East London. Apartheid legislation dispossessed many Black people of their land. After 1994, the new democratic government implemented a land reform programme, land policy was reviewed, and people were compensated for the loss of land either financially or through restoration of their land. The original cut-off date for claims was 1998, but the window for claims was reopened in July 2014 because of difficulties in implementation. The period for the lodging of claims was extended to end June 2019 to allow people who had not yet been able to do so to participate in the process. In case of the old West Bank Location claims, compensation was in the form of land restoration, including houses which would be built for the claimants. This study documents the successes and challenges encountered in the implementation of land policy in the old West Bank Location. Triangulation of methods was used: data were collected from documents, interviews with claimants, interviews with government officials, and observation of meetings. Recommendations with regard to land policy are made on the basis of the research findings.

A history of land degradation is reconstructed in a part of the dividing ridge between the Great Fish and Keiskamma rivers, in Peddie District, former Ciskei. The study entails a comparative investigation of the progressive changes in land use, vegetation and soil erosion in three tenure units, namely: former commercial farms, traditional and betterment villages. Analysis of the sequential aerial photography of the area for 1938,1954, 1965, 1975 and 1988 is employed. This is backed by groundtruthing exercises. Data thus obtained are quantified, and linkages between degradation, anthropogenic and physical factors are derived using PC ARC/INFO GIS. Differences in land tenure systems emerge as the main controlling factor to variations in land degradation. Confinement of vegetation diminution and erosion to traditional and betterment villages is observed at all dates. Scantily vegetated surfaces and riparian vegetation removal are a characteristic feature of both areas throughout the study period. 'Betterment,' introduced in the early 1960s to curb land degradation is, instead observed to exacerbate it, particularly soil erosion. Trends in land use change are characterised by the abandonment of cultivated land, which is noted to coincide with a sharp rise in population. Erosion intensification into severe forms particularly between 1965 and 1975, coincident with a period of extreme rainfall events, emerges as the most significant degradation trend. A close spatial correlation between abandoned cultivated land and intricate gullies is identified. So is the case between grazing land and severe sheet erosion. Within the grazing lands, an examination of erosion and categories of vegetated surfaces reveals that erosion occurs predominantly on the scanty vegetation category. Such erosion-vegetation interaction largely explains the non-recovery of the scanty vegetation category, even during periods of intense rainfall. Extensive channel degradation is evident along stream courses with scanty riparian vegetation. Physical factors are noted to have a significant bearing on erosion. The high prevalence of erosion on the Ecca group of rocks confirms its erosion-prone nature. Pockets of colluvium and alluvium accumulation in the steep bottomlands are identified as the sites of the most severe gully erosion. Field surveys at some of the sites indicate that a dolerite sill through the area forms a boundary of colluvium accumulation and the upslope limit to gully incision. That these sites are recognised as formerly cultivated land, portrays the interaction between physical and anthropogenic variables with regard to inducing degradation in the area.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The thesis examines the characteristics of land tenure among African families with freehold title who trace their relationship to the land to their forebears who first acquired title in the mid-nineteenth century. The evidence was drawn from two field sites in the Eastern Cape, Fingo Village, Grahamstown and Rabula in the Keiskammahoek district of the former Ciskei. The evidence, supported by evidence in other Anglophone countries, shows that African familial relationships reminiscent of ‘customary’ concepts of the family, were not, and are not extinguished when title is issued, though they are altered. Africans with title regard the land as family property held by unilineal descent groups, challenging the western notion of one-to-one proprietal relationships to the land and its devolution. By exploring the intersection between tenure, use and devolution of land, the main findings reveal that local conceptions of land and use diverge considerably from the formal, legal notion of title. Title holders conceive of their land as the property of all recognised members of a patrilineally defined descent group symbolised by the family name. Because freehold is so intimately linked with inheritance, the findings significantly illuminate the social field of gender and kinship. The implications of the findings are that differing concepts of the ‘family’ and ‘property’ are fundamental to the lack of ‘fit’ between the common-law concept of ownership and what I term in the thesis ‘African freehold’. The thesis dissects the implications of culturally constructed variability in familial identities for recognition and transmission of property. Title is legally regulated by Eurocentric notions of both family and property, which lead to significant divergence between western and African interpretations of ownership, transmission and spatial division of land. The deficiencies of the South African legal mindset with regard to property law are thus fundamentally affected by the deficiencies in recognising the broader field of gender and kinship relations. The findings fundamentally challenge the dualistic paradigm currently prevalent in much of South African legal thinking, since the factors that are found to affect land tenure relationships cannot be reduced to the binary distinctions that are conventionally drawn in law, such as ‘western’ vs. ‘customary’ or ‘individual’ vs. iii ‘communal’ tenure. Instead, the important sources of validation of social (importantly, familial) and property relationships are found to be common to all property relationships, but are arranged and calibrated according to different normative patterns of recognition. In the case of the subjects in the field sites, these do not fit into the main ‘categories’ of property defined in law. Neither of the main bodies of official law, the common law and customary law, adequately characterise the relationships among the African freehold title holders. The source of legitimation is, therefore, not the ‘law’ but locally understood norms and practices. The findings suggest that the practices of the freeholders, derived from constructed ideas of kinship and descent, have relevance for a wide range of diverse African land tenure arrangements and categories, and not only ‘African freehold’. The findings therefore have significant implications for law reform more broadly. The thesis suggests that law reform should move away from models that do not match reality, and in particular should heed the warnings that titling policies as presently designed are particularly poorly aligned with the realities presented in the thesis.

This is an exploratory study of the impact of the land redistribution programme on the rural poor of Nkonkobe Municipality. There is a brief historical overview of land redistribution in the South African context. The study demonstrates the impact of the programme of land redistribution and its challenges for the rural poor. The critical question is whether the programme benefitted the rural poor of Nkonkobe Municipality. Chapter one deals with the aims of the research, background of the study, sub-related questions, delimitation of the study and the research method. Chapter two deals with the theoretical framework, a brief description of the study area, a discussion of the land question in South Africa including land reform experiences, redistribution policy and the government land reform programme. Chapter three deals with methodology, discussing the research design and research methods used. Chapter four deals with findings and recommendations.

The initiative of land restitution in South Africa was an advantage to some people who were forcibly removed from Korsten area, which was a mixed residential area and the only area in Port Elizabeth where Black people had freehold tenure rights. The intention of the South African land reform programme which is to restore land and transform socio-economic relations has been achieved by means of land restitution. Successful Korsten land claimants have been granted land in Fairview through the land restitution programme. The successful resolution of land claims has shown the democracy and development in the country of South Africa.

Until recently, there have been different and sometimes conflicting views on whether or not the communal land tenure system (CLTS) has a positive or negative impact on rural economic welfare. This study analyses some trends associated with the CLTS in the Ditsobotla area of the NorthWest province, focusing on the implications for rural economic welfare. The results of the study suggest that the CLTS is extremely important in order to sustain the rural economy, and therefore this dissertation presents developmental, policy and research options for consideration by government and other affected stakeholders for the betterment of the livelihood of people in the Ditsobotla area. The study adopts participatory research techniques in the selected villages of Springbokpan and Mooifontein. It also reflects on land tenure experiences in other African countries. The dissertation concludes with a suggestion that the South African government should engage in in-depth research programmes prior to the implementation of the envisaged communal land tenure reform legislation and that, the state should secure sufficient funding to boost agricultural activities in the area. Taking all these factors into account, a view is held that all developmental endeavours in the area must be informed by the collective participation of the affected local people, and their efforts must be united for the enhancement of their livelihood. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

Thesis (MPhil (Public Management and Planning))--University of Stellenbosch, 2006. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa is unique in that its globally significant biodiversity, which is under major threat, coexists with an apartheid history of dispossession that produced a starkly unequal land ownership pattern and widespread rural poverty. It is in this context that the post-apartheid government must fulfil constitutional and international obligations to safeguard environmental assets as well as undertake land reform benefiting the previously dispossessed. Consequently, there is a continuous challenge of reconciling complex and often conflicting relationships between poverty, inequitable access to resources, and the protection of biodiversity. Current efforts to conserve the Cape Floral Kingdom emphasise partnerships between private landowners and existing nature reserves to promote sustainable utilisation of biodiversity. This paper explores the potential impact of this approach on farm dwellers, and how changing land use may affect their land tenure rights and livelihoods. Primary research was undertaken in the Baviaanskloof, where this model is in an early stage of implementation. The paper identifies systemic and structural tensions in current attempts to reconcile biodiversity conservation and farm dwellers’ interests, and documents issues of process and principle that could become important in the future. In doing so, it highlights the influence of on-farm power relations and highly complex institutional arrangements in determining the real extent of participation by affected farm dwellers and the efficacy of social safeguard policies. Findings also caution against an over-reliance on ecotourism as the major occupation and argues instead for support to multiple livelihood strategies.

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Technology: Education, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2013. / This study is focused on the role of education to improve awareness of two critically important aspects of the South African situation 19 years after the first democratic elections in 1994. In the first instance, the study aims to augment the grades 10-12 Life Orientation curriculum to promote understanding and appreciation of land rights as human rights for every citizen in South Africa to address the social injustices of the past. In the second instance, the study focuses on grades 10-12 Agricultural Sciences curriculum to ensure that every learner who leaves school is in a position to care for land responsibly, and to use land productively for his or her own benefit and the benefit of others in the future. These foci have been informed by numerous interactions with people in four small communities on the Southern KwaZulu-Natal coast, who have been victims of landless as a result of the Group Areas act of 1960, and are claiming restitution for the land lost, and are required by law to make the restituted land productive. The study records first hand stories told about land ownership, landless, land claims, land restitution, and land (ab)use stories, in the form of narratives, such as autobiographies, auto-ethnographies, accounts of action research and self study. My research participants and I are the authors of our land stories. We tell our stories as a way of making the private public in the interests of a fair and just society. The forms of presentation include narratives, dialogues, playlets, literary references and critical reflections. The perspectives used include the native worldview, rurality as a dynamic, generative and variable milieu, the orality-literacy interface, the effect of oppression, and values and beliefs, customs and mores which (in)form a civil and civilised society. During the course of the study, the role of stories to reveal what is happening in the lives of those people most affected by unjust laws, and to empower them to take action in their own best interests became evident. The major role of education in land reforms cannot be overemphasized, which is why I have used what I have discovered from the many interactions with many people to inform two grades 10-12 school curricula: the grades 10-12 Life Orientation curriculum and the grades 10-12 Agricultural Sciences curriculum . / PDF Full-text unavailable. Please refer to hard copy for Full-text / D

The land issue is one among the many challenges faced by South Africa. In this work I look at dispossession of land in the South African context, and reflect on the biblical account of Naboth's vineyard. Naboth was dispossessed of his vineyard through the abuse of power and the lack of justice. In like manner, people of colour in South Africa were dispossessed of their land by a very powerful minority. The legal system did not protect the weak and vulnerable - hence many injustices occurred. The aim of this dissertation is to remind ourselves of land dispossession through the abuse of power and the lack of justice. Through this reminder, I encourage and challenge the church of its responsibilities in the land discussion. The church has a biblical mandate to speak out prophetically and to become proactive in correcting the injustices of the past. Through the church responding in this manner, it will directly assist in poverty alleviation and will drive toward an improved quality of life for all human beings. / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu- Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2004.