Magister Philosophiae - MPhil (LAS) (Land and Agrarian Studies)

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Changing labor, land and social relations on commercial farms: a case study from Limpopo, South Africa
(2008) Zamchiya, Phillan; Hall, Ruth
Over the past fifteen years, the South African government has extended various land, labour and social rights to farm workers, ranging from provisions of basic labour rights in 1993 to the minimum wage in 2003. Literature suggests that social relations on commercial farms do not remain static in the context of policy changes. This thesis sets out to understand the ways in which social relations have or have not changed, on one commercial farm in Limpopo province, South Africa, and to establish factors that impede or promote such change as well as the consequences for farm workers’ daily lives. Drawing from the interpretive and critical social science philosophical perspectives, the thesis adopts a qualitative research methodology that takes into consideration the experiences and perceptions of farm workers, farm managers, the farm owner and key informants from government institutions and civil society. At a theoretical level the study is informed by four paradigms namely: the materialist perspective; the total institution thesis; paternalism; and structuration theory. It considers three overlapping conceptual models of understanding relations between farm owners and farm workers namely the welfarist, workerist and transformative models. The paper argues that, in the past decade, the extension of farm labour and tenure laws to the farm sector has eroded the welfarist relations between the farm owner and farm workers. There is now a rise in workerist relations in a context of unequal power relations tilted in favour of the farm employer. The thesis concludes that in order to adequately understand land, labour and social relations, one has to consider the politics of land ownership as well as the politics of agricultural capitalist employment.
In or out of court? Strategies for resolving farm tenure disputes in Limpopo province, South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2011) Shirinda, Shirhami Eddie; Hall, Ruth
In this thesis I explore dispute resolution mechanisms within the context of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 62 of 1997 (ESTA) and more generally the extent to which the law and the court can be used to effect social change. I examine dispute resolution processes that parties to farm tenure utilise towards exercising their land rights. I give practical demonstrations of how parties on farms utilised processes to resolve eviction and burial disputes on farms in Limpopo province, South Africa. I focus on four case studies from farm dweller cases from Vhembe district, two evictions and two burials. The thesis compares and contrasts the cases settled through out of court settlements with those decided through the court processes. It is based on case files kept at the Nkuzi Development Association (Nkuzi) Elim office and follow up interviews with farm occupiers as well as court judgments on cases that were decided in court. I argue that decisions on choosing appropriate dispute resolution processes are determined by the parties’ economic position and the availability of land reform support Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and lawyers. The findings drawn from the case studies show that ESTA dispute resolution mechanisms do not give choices to the parties in deciding how best to resolve tenure disputes they face, rather, they are forced to approach the courts. Parties to farm tenure disputes face challenges in using mediation and arbitration processes due to a lack of support from the relevant government agencies. These challenges ultimately deprive parties in disputes from making effective choices when deciding on a dispute resolution process that is appropriate for the dispute they are confronted with. This study concludes that ESTA is limited when offering necessary choices to the farm parties in disputes. The findings of this study point to the need for amendment of ESTA to provide parties in farm disputes with a choice of using mediation or arbitration processes directly as an alternative for those who do not want to resolve the dispute in court. In addition, an amendment should include the negotiation process and make the use of negotiation, mediation and arbitration compulsory for parties to first exhaust their use before approaching the court.
Large-scale land acquisitions in Kenya: the Yala Swamp case study of Kenya’s land governance system and actual practices
(University of the Western Cape, 2014) Lumumba, Odenda Richard; Hall, Ruth
This thesis examines debates concerning large-scale land acquisitions in Kenya by looking at the case of the Dominion Farms Limited takeover of Yala Swamp. The case study illustrates actual practices of Kenya’s land governance system in terms of how large-scale land acquisitions take shape and their results on the ground. The study explores changes that have taken place at Yala Swamp from 2003 to 2013 and assesses them against the backdrop of recent and emerging land governance regulatory frameworks at national, regional and global levels. The study’s research methodology and data analysis reveal that the new large-scale land acquisition phenomenon has a historical dimension in that it perpetuates a continued legacy of land dispossession of local communities of the unregistered land thereby disrupting their livelihoods. This thesis contributes to a lively intellectual debate and literature on land governance by examining land issues from a governance and political economy perspective. Yala Swamp was chosen as a case study of large-scale land acquisition. The case shows how new land regulatory policies are being shaped and constrained by what is considered beneficial for foreign investment but not necessarily in tandem with local communities’ needs and expectations. This thesis is anchored on the assumption that land governance frameworks’ transformative potential depends on the extent to which they are able to address the structural factors that entrench continued poverty, food insecurity, gender inequality, environmental degradation and land conflicts. The thesis argues that initiatives that facilitate the corporate takeover of land and other resources from the poor in order to give to large-scale investors foreclose the smallholder agricultural space for future expansion. It further argues that an understanding of land reform processes from a governance and political economy perspective offers insight that could not only improve the design of land governance regulatory frameworks, but also provide pathways to support implementation.
Namibia’s land redistribution programme: A case study of Steinhausen (Okarukambe) constituency in Omaheke region
(University of Western Cape, 2020) Mandimika, Prisca; Hall, Ruth
As a means to assuage historical land inequities, resultant socio-economic disparities and poverty alleviation, the Namibian Government undertook to reform the land sector. Guided by the Constitution and the Resolutions of the 1991 Land Conference policy and legal framework, a fractured consensus is built on the rationale to redistribute land to a targeted group. Parallel to the reform agenda, systemic challenges to the resettlement process are growing amid questions on Government’s ability to respond to sustainable programme objectives embedded within land reforms. Literature coalesces on the issues of land-reform programmes having lost direction, being skewed in favour of a few, being biased towards commercial agriculture, and requiring review and re-configuration to be inclusive and to satisfy equity and poverty-alleviation concerns.
Namibia’s Land Redistribution Programme: A Case Study of Steinhausen (Okarukambe) Constituency in Omaheke Region
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Mandimika, Prisca; Hall, Ruth
As a means to assuage historical land inequities, resultant socio-economic disparities and poverty alleviation, the Namibian Government undertook to reform the land sector. Guided by the Constitution and the Resolutions of the 1991 Land Conference policy and legal framework, a fractured consensus is built on the rationale to redistribute land to a targeted group. Parallel to the reform agenda, systemic challenges to the resettlement process are growing amid questions on Government’s ability to respond to sustainable programme objectives embedded within land reforms. Literature coalesces on the issues of land-reform programmes having lost direction, being skewed in favour of a few, being biased towards commercial agriculture, and requiring review and re-configuration to be inclusive and to satisfy equity and povertyalleviation concerns. This study seeks to understand who has been benefitting from land reform by analysing the processes and procedures of identifying beneficiaries prioritised for land allocation, and institutional structures for implementation, while analysing how they produce and reproduce class differentiation and the attendent livelihood trajectories. Using qualitative research conducted in one case study site (Okarukambe constituency) the views of the smallscale farmers who benefitted were solicited. Additionally, the experiences and views of institutions and officials involved in land allocation at regional and national levels are taken into account. Theoretically the study draws from the livelihoods approach to find out the different categories of the small-scale farmers who have benefitted.
The potential and limits of the proactive land acquisition strategy: land reform implementation in Gauteng province of South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2013) Ranwedzi, Emmanuel Ndivhuho; Hall, Ruth
Land reform in South Africa emerged as one of the important policies for reconciliation, reconstruction and development of the country after years of racial segregation. Its implementation has been three-fold i.e. land restitution, redistribution and tenure reform. The initial sub-programmes of land redistribution i.e. Settlement Land Acquisition Grant (SLAG) and Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) have been confronted with numerous challenges and they have been criticised for influencing group owned projects due to their grant funding models. SLAG required beneficiaries to qualify as households and its failure to date has been largely attributed to unresolved conflicts amongst group members. Under LRAD, although beneficiaries qualified as individuals, the number of grants continued to be challenged by the increasing land prices, and as a result, group-owned projects continued to be created to match the land prices. Both models were demand-driven under the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ principle. In 2006, government introduced a new model called the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) which is a ‘supply-driven’ model but operating within the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ principle. The structural changes introduced in 2010 placed PLAS as the sole land acquisition model under land redistribution. This research investigates the manner in which the implementation of this model assisted to resolve the gaps identified in its predecessors and the reasons thereof. Additionally, the research also investigates characteristics which persisted throughout and why such features persisted. The policy shift from a ‘demand-driven’ to a ‘supply-driven’ model has brought changes in terms of planning, implementation and resource mobilization. To achieve this, the researcher identified three cases where indepth research was conducted, and interviewed key roles placers from the national and provincial departments, and the local municipality. A questionnaire and semi-structures interviews were used to collect the data.
Reviewing farm worker equity schemes: a case study of Saamwerk wine farm in the Overberg region, Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Tom, Boyce; Hall, Ruth; Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies; Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences
This research investigated experiences of the Saamwerk equity scheme as a framework to analyze the ways in which the scheme has achieved the objectives of land reform. It reviewed the role of this scheme in relation to the experiences and perceptions of beneficiaries about the extent to which this scheme has or has not improved their living conditions.

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