The SDG monitoring framework turns a blind eye to the daily realities of lived tenure security in African hybrid land transaction systems: A South African case

Abstract

The Sustainable Development Goals' (SDGs) monitoring framework is a tool used to measure the implementation of SGDs. Indicator 1.4.2 measures the proportion of households with tenure security. The monitoring framework has a set of conditions and a standardised scientific approach to measure tenure security. This is problematic in customary tenure practices because tenure security is embedded in social relations. In addition, various actors, such as traditional leaders, self-appointed headmen, and municipal officials, are gradually shaping the perception of tenure security. Through door-to-door interviews with 35 community members, four municipal officials, and eight traditional leaders in the former KwaNdebele homeland in Mpumalanga, South Africa, the findings reveal that the perception of tenure security is dependent on who is being asked. Municipal officials have lost control over the land administration process and therefore engage in “porous bureaucracy” in order to do the work of the state, thereby adding to the hybrid nature of customary tenure. In conclusion, the SDG monitoring framework is not concerned with context and is ignorant of the daily realities of land tenure systems. Consequentially, areas such as the former KwaNdebele homeland are excluded from the global monitoring process.