Over 18 years after the democratic government took power in South Africa, environmental
changes relevant to the land reform policies are taking place because of unintended
consequences of land reform policy. This study aimed at investigating the effects of the
South African land reform policy on land use and land cover change on a land restitution
project in Makotopong, Limpopo province, South Africa. The study used remote sensing
techniques through the analysis of Landsat TM images acquired in 1994 and 2007 to
produce landscape maps and derive land cover change. Statistics deriving the nature of the
decline in the general condition of the land restitution project gave an insight into the kind
of landscape transformation that has taken place before and after land restitution program.
Quantification of land cover classes have shown a decline in post-transfer activities with a
decline in agricultural productivity, as illustrated by the decline in area covered by
agricultural crops (showing a decline from 78.03 ha in 1994 to 20.43 ha in 2007). The
study recommends that spatial data analysis through remote sensing procedures should
form the information base in monitoring and evaluating the land reform projects. Results of
this study demonstrated that quantification of the changes in land use and land cover types
can be very useful in deriving the nature of the general environmental and social condition
of the land reform project. / Thesis (M. Sc (Geography) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/14965 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Lidzhegu, Zwidofhelangani |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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