Document: Central Karoo Land and Agrarian Reform: Area-Based Plan

The Department of Land Affairs (DLA) has introduced a new approach to land reform planning and support. This involves the development of Area-Based Plans (ABPs) for every district in the country. The ABP indentifies district land reform and related settlement and implementation support needs and specifies how these needs will be addressed. Once approved, the ABP assumes the status of a land and agrarian reform sector plan within the district municipality’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP).

This ABP is presented as the proposed sector plan for the Central Karoo District Municipality and the three local municipalities of Beaufort West, Prince Albert and Laingsburg.

 

The Central Karoo Area-Based Plan (CKABP) identifies three interconnected components required for a sustainable district land reform programme:

• A facility that ensures communication, interaction and coordination between the key role players

• The provision of an integrated set of grants and services to land reform beneficiaries

• A facility that enables coherent and ongoing land rights and land management.

 

It proposes the establishment of a dedicated coordination and support entity that will mobilise government and non-government actors to ensure integrated service provision in consultation with the emerging farmers. This entity will be accountable to local, provincial and national government.

 

Current context

The following issues and trends shape the development context within the Central Karoo:

• The district displays typical South African arid area characteristics.

• The economy is largely based on extensive (but capital-intensive) small-stock farming, with isolated and low irrigation potential.

• During the last 50 years, farms have grown larger and fewer, and farm labour has been shed. Most of these unemployed farm workers have drifted to the towns to join the ranks of the urban unemployed.

• The recent advent of game and ‘life-style’ farms has contributed to this trend, helping to push land prices above productive value.

• The urban economy is fragile with a small business sector and virtually no industrial base.

• There is a developing informal sector in most towns, often linked to pension pay-out days.

• Towns are fairly well provided with infrastructure, but economic multipliers are weak.

• Poverty levels are high, due to high levels of unemployment. A large proportion of income is derived from social grants.

• HIV/Aids levels are reputedly high, particularly on national transport routes.

• Commercial farming expertise is high, and farmers have expressed eagerness to become involved in land reform.

• There are some 660 farms in the region and recent land sales in the district average 150 000 – 200 000 hectares of commercial farm land each year.

• There are some 240 black1 commonage farmers, who represent the nucleus for the emergence of new commercial farmers.

• Commonage farmers tend to be older, unemployed and have high levels of illiteracy.

• Land reform beneficiaries have high expectations of the land reform programme but the evidence indicates that even after receiving government grants and assistance, new farmers will be individually under-capitalised.

• There are few alternative land-based enterprises to small stock that require scarce management expertise and long lead-in times.

• The historic DLA practice of grouping land reform beneficiaries and amalgamating their LRAD grants to purchase a farm has not worked. Limited capacity for joint management exists. These farms remain under-capitalised and individual income potential is very low.

• Municipal management of commonage land is ineffective, and stocking pressure exists in all areas.

• There is a lack of effective coordination among land reform role players, with no strong management of, and accountability for, the creation of a true enabling environment for emerging farmers.