South Africa: Land - more action, less talk

Government has identified land reform as central to the alleviation of poverty. The programme, begun with the passing of legislation in 1996, has three main elements: restitution of rights through the land claims process; the redistribution of land via acquisition to develop a black farming middle class; and securing tenure for people living on the land of others. The director of tenure reform at land affairs, Sipho Sibanda, admitted that there was a degree of paralysis in government.