Research Reports

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Land reform, sustainable rural livelihoods and gender relations: A case study of Gallawater A farm: Volume 2
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2000) Vetter, Susanne; Goqwana, Wiseman M; Bobo, Joseph; Marsh, Alan
There is an ongoing debate about the sustainability of South African communal rangelands as old views on overgrazing and degradation are being widely challenged. The degradation issue has recently received renewed attention in the light of land reform, as this is expected to lead to an increase in the area of South Africa which is held under some form of communal tenure. District-level data on vegetation and soil degradation (Hoffman et al. 1999) have shown that communal districts have significantly higher levels of soil erosion, and that communal and commercial districts experience very different vegetation changes under the same environmental conditions, even if livestock densities are similar. The implications of this for communal livestock farmers are still under debate, and the interrelationships between high human population density, high stocking rates, land degradation and people’s livelihoods need to be better understood for land reform to result in economically and ecologically sustainable land use. This case study of a land reform pilot project in the Eastern Cape focuses on the changes in the biophysical environment, particularly soils and vegetation, which are likely to result from the change of land tenure and land use on Gallawater A.
Land reform, sustainable rural livelihoods and gender relations: A case study of Gallawater A farm: Volume 1
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2000) Mokgope, Kgopotso
The research project aimed to investigate the impact of land reform processes on sustainable rural livelihoods and on gender relations in South Africa by examining a case study in the Eastern Cape province.
Waking up from the dream: The pitfalls of 'fast-track' development on the Wild Coast
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2001) Kepe, Thembela
The main aim of this study was to explore the issues involved in reconciling the policy objectives of land reform, environmental conservation and the private sector profit-oriented rural development initiative in postapartheid South Africa. Rather than examining the conceptual framework of the projects being implemented, the study attempts to reveal shortcomings in the processes of development. The research was conducted in close collaboration with relevant departments, agencies and individuals driving processes of change in the area under consideration, although the independent nature of the work was not compromised.
'It is not easy to challenge a chief ': Lessons from Rakgwadi
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2001) Claasens, Aninka
When Thoko Didiza was appointed Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs in 1999, one of her earliest policy decisions was to stop work on the draft Land Rights Bill and to announce her intention to transfer the title of state land in communal areas to tribes.
Community-based natural resources management: Experiences and lessons linking communities to sustainable resource use in different social, economic and ecological conditions in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2002) Turner, Stephen; Collins, Steve; Baumgart, Johannes
The project, which started in 1996 in partnership with the South African Department of Land Affairs (DLA), supports communities that have a stake in nature conservation areas through ownership, or a claim to ownership, of part or all of a park or reserve. In its first phase, which ended in 2000, it worked with the community owners of the Richtersveld National Park, with the Makuleke people as they regained ownership of the northern tip of the Kruger National Park (KNP); and with three communities living in the Kosi Bay Nature Reserve. In its current, second phase, TRANSFORM continues to work with the Richtersveld and Makuleke, and has expanded its support to other parts of the country, mainly in the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces.
Land and agrarian reform in South Africa: A status report, 2002
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2002) Turner, Stephen; Cousins, Ben; Lahiff, Edward; Wisbourg, Poul
In 1994, South Africa started a new life as a democratic nation. It faced immense challenges. Multiple economic, social and political transformations were needed to overcome the legacy of colonialism and apartheid. The racially-driven history of the prosperous South African economy had marginalised the black majority from access to resources and productive opportunities, and deprived most of them of the right to build secure homes and livelihoods in the urban areas where the nation s wealth was concentrated.
Valuing the commons: Rural livelihoods and communal rangeland resources in the Maluti District, Eastern Cape
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2002) Ntshona, Zolile
The ‘hidden’ value of wild resources, trees and grazing resources on communal rangelands is often overlooked by conventional economic assessments, even though their contribution to people’s lives is enormous. There is growing interest in the role played by wild resources in rural people’s livelihoods.
Cattle ownership and production in the communal areas of the Eastern Cape, South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2002) Ainslie, Andrew; Kepe, Thembela; Ntsebeza, Lungisile; Ntshona, Zolile; Turner, Stephen
This report documents a study of the social and economic structure of cattle ownership and production in the communal tenure areas of the Eastern Cape (i.e. the former Bantustans of Transkei and Ciskei). The report begins with a review of the conventional arguments relating to cattle production systems in communal tenure areas, i.e. that they are inefficient and irrational. In seeking to challenge these pervasive assumptions concerning the way in which cattle production systems in these areas apparently work, it is argued, first, that very little systematic and detailed knowledge of these systems actually exists on which to base arguments that have had considerable impact and, second, that cattle ownership and production for African people in the Eastern Cape, quite apart from its obvious utility and cultural resonance, has been, for many decades, expressly about political-economic struggle against the state and its varied policies, which have had the effect – if not always the explicit intention – of the gradual proletarianisation of the rural population.
Land reform and sustainable livelihoods in South Africa's Eastern Cape province
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2002) Lahiff, Edward
The Eastern Cape is one of the nine provinces of South Africa, located in the south-east of the country along the Indian Ocean seaboard. The area was a site of prolonged struggle between native peoples, principally Xhosa-speakers, and European colonists throughout the eighteen and nineteenth centuries, which saw the defeat and subjugation of the African chieftaincies and the loss of the majority of territory to white settlers.
Community-based natural resources management: Experiences and lessons linking communities to sustainable resource use in different social, economic and ecological conditions in South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2002) Turner, Stephen; Collins, Steve; Baumgart, Johannes
The project, which started in 1996 in partnership with the South African department of Land Affairs (DLA), supports communities that have a stake in nature conservation areas through ownership, or a claim to ownership, of part or all of a park or reserve. In its first phase, which ended in 2000, it worked with the community owners of the Richtersveld National Park, with the makuleke people as they regained ownership of the northern tip of the Kruger National Park (KNP);
Hanging on a wire: A historical and socio-eco- nomic study of Paulshoek village in the communal area of Leliefontein, Namaqualand
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2003) Rohde, Rick; Hoffman, M. Timm
Namaqualand is often considered an anomaly in South African social science research because of its distinct cultural, social and environmental conditions. No doubt, Namaqualand has many extremes: a sparse population, a harsh arid environment and a political history dominated by the perverse apartheid system which classified the majority of Namaqualanders as ‘coloured’ and confined them to small communal ‘reserves’. Few contemporary studies have penetrated the complex history of land use, settlement and social economy of these communal areas of the Northern Cape. This report presents a case study centred on the village of Paulshoek in one such communal area (Leliefontein) in Namaqualand. It documents the history of the village and presents findings of socioeconomic research covering village demographics, health indicators, a household livelihoods analysis and the function of social networks inside the village and beyond its boundaries.
Community views on the Communal Land Rights Bill
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2003) Claassens, Aninka
The Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) and the National Land Committee (NLC) responded to the lack of effective government consultation with communities on the draft Communal Land Rights Bill (CLRB) by initiating a joint project to broaden civil society participation in the legislative process.
The externalisation and casualisation of farm labour in Western Cape horticulture
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2003) du Toit, Andries; Ally, Fadeela
On several Friday nights during February and March 2001, a visitor to Happiness Street1 in the Oostenberg Municipality s newly created Westbank housing project would have witnessed angry scenes. A small crowd of frustrated and enraged people would be seen squatting outside the house of Mrs Santie van Rooy, a prominent community member.
Municipal commonage as a form of land redistribution: A case study of the new farms of Leliefontein, a communal reserve in Namaqualand, South Africa
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2004) Lebert, Tom
This paper examines the implementation of a quasi-commercial land use system on newly acquired municipal commonage in Leliefontein, a former ‘coloured reserve’ in Namaqualand, Northern Cape. This land has been acquired ostensibly for use by all of the reserve’s residents. A Commonage Committee made up of community members and state representatives has been set up to manage this land on behalf of the municipality. After describing the management framework that has been put in place, this paper investigates how the implementation of this framework is actually unfolding on the ground. This investigation is based on fieldwork undertaken in Leliefontein over the course of 2003 and the first half of 2004.
Land and agrarian reform in South Africa: A status report 2004
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2004) Hall, Ruth
This is the third in a series of ‘status reports’ on land and agrarian reform in South Africa published by the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS). These reports set out to assess progress, problems and emerging perspectives within the land sector. The first status report (Turner & Ibsen 2000) discussed the period from 1994 to late 2000. The second status report (Turner 2002) discussed developments in the sector from 2000 to 2002. During 2002 and 2003, PLAAS undertook a wide-ranging study to evaluate progress in each of the key policy areas of land reform. The ‘Evaluating Land and Agrarian Reform in South Africa’ (ELARSA) project resulted in the publication of a series of nine reports.
A critical appraisal of South Africa’s market-based land reform policy: The case of the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme in Limpopo
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2004) Wegerif, Marc
In 1996 less than 1% of the population owned and controlled over 80% of farm land. This 1% was part of the 10.9% of the population classified as white (Stats SA 2000). Meanwhile, the 76.7% of the population that is classified as African had access to less than 15% of agricultural land, and even that access was without clear ownership or legally-recognised rights. An estimated 5.3 million black South Africans lived with almost no tenure security on commercial farms owned by white farmers (Wildschut & Hulbert 1998). The legacy of apartheid was not just the inequality in access to resources such as land, but a faltering economy that by 1994 had been through two years of negative growth and left the majority of the population in poverty (Sparks 2003).
Livelihoods and sharing: Trends in a Lesotho village, 1976–2004
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2005) Turner, Stephen D.
In 2004 I was fortunate enough to be able to return to Ha Tumahole, the village in Lesotho where I undertook research on farming and livelihoods in 1976–77, and spend four weeks learning about what had changed in people’s lives and land use. This time, I paid particular attention to the arrangements people make to share resources and to help each other in their farming and in other aspects of their livelihoods. The work is intended to contribute to the research component of CARE’s Livelihoods Recovery through Agriculture Programme (LRAP).
Joint ventures and livelihoods in emerging small-scale irrigation schemes in Greater Sekhukhune District: Perspectives from Hereford
(Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 2005) Tapela, Barbara Nompumelelo
Small-scale irrigation farming is envisaged as playing a progressively larger role in rural development and in reducing some of the inequalities inherent in South Africa’s space economy. The promotion of entry by black farmers into commercialised small-scale irrigation farming appears to have been bolstered by the late 1990s convergence of agricultural, water, land, local government and other sector reforms. Concomitant to these reforms, the government’s macro-policy shifts seem to favour the creation of a black farming elite, and an important question centres on the possible negative impacts of neo-liberal policies on the livelihoods of the poorest and most vulnerable people within smallscale irrigation farming communities. It is also debatable whether a new class of petty commodity producers can establish a viable niche within global commodity chains, given the significant constraints to effective participation in a highly competitive and globalised commodity production sector.
Joint ventures and livelihoods in emerging small-scale irrigation schemes in Greater Sekhukhune District : Perspectives from Hereford
(PLAAS, University of the Western Cape, 2005-09) Tapela, Barbara
This report is based on research carried out between June 2003 and April 2005 in the Greater Sekhukhune Cross-Border District Municipality, which straddles the boundaries of the Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces. This research took place in two case-study sites, namely the Hereford and the Phetwane Irrigation Schemes. However, this report focuses on findings from Hereford only. The research was primarily concerned with the impact of BEE, articulated through joint ventures, on the ‘livelihoods’ of people living in emerging small-scale irrigation schemes in some of the least affluent rural areas within the municipality.
Livelihoods and sharing: Trends in a Lesotho village, 1976–2004
(PLAAS, University of the Western Cape & Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere Inc. (CARE), 2005-10) Turner, Stephen
The study compares the livelihoods and inter-household sharing mechanisms in a Lesotho village across a 28 year period. The report examines the complex socio-economic structures and systems that are in place in the rural village. Despite external signs of improved housing standards, the study finds ominous signs of growing vulnerability as much of the community's economic backbone has been lost. Options for assistance by external agencies and by social protection systems are explored.

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