ACCELERATING LAND REFORM

The matter of accelerating land reform, tenure reform and land development has become a matter for all South Africans, all spheres of government and political parties. The contribution of agriculture to the economy has been decreasing and since this is a labour-intensive sector, it is one of the few sectors that has potential to accelerate intensive job creation. Rural development is one of the most crucial focus areas in trying to address the “triple crisis” and ensure inclusive growth of the economy.

The perception is that the poor performance of government, and particularly that of the department, is failing those who require land, the rural poor, the growth of agricultural sector and job creation. To respond to this, a strategy development process was undertaken to strategically position the department to effectively deliver against its mandate, vision and mission. The aim is to meet the NDP and SDG goals through rolling back the triple challenges by scaling up the delivery of land, legally secure tenure, food security, economic growth and land/rural development47.

The key areas identified for accelerated impact are summarised in the figure below: