Land debate distorted by misrepresentation of ownership figures − IRR

The misrepresentation of data around land ownership is distorting how the public understands the issue, and how it is debated.

This is most clearly seen in the frequent claim – without proper contextualisation – that 72% of the country’s farmland is owned by “white” people as opposed to only 4% owned by “black” people.

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) cautions that this places an obstacle in the path of developing and implementing productive policy solutions.

“If indeed land reform is important – particularly as it pertains to agricultural land – then informed public commentary and debate are essential. Too much of the public conversation rests on misleading and divisive narratives,” says Terence Corrigan, Projects and Publications Manager at the IRR.

The 72%-4% split is drawn from data in the official 2017 land audit report, the source of the attached graphic (see below). It refers only to freehold land held by individuals and registered at the deeds office. The report shows that coloured people own 15% of such land, Indian people 5%, “others” 3%, and co-ownership schemes, 1%. But land held on these terms accounts for only about a third of the land in the country (while this is often described as farmland, it is better understood as “rural” land, as much of it is not in use for agriculture).

Landholding across South Africa – urban and rural – is held in the following manner: individuals, 30.4%; trusts, 24%; the state, 23%; companies, 19%; community-based organisations, 2.9%; and co-ownership schemes, 0.7%. For the overwhelming majority of South Africa’s land, it is not possible to assign a “racial” identity.

Says Corrigan: “It is revealing – and damaging – that the narrative constructed around the 72%-4% split conveys the message that ‘nothing has changed.’ It erases the modest land reform successes that have been achieved, since this tends to happen through community rather than individual schemes. It also ignores recognising that land to which black people have historically had access – the erstwhile homelands – has been state property and remains so three decades after the transition.”

Indeed, it has been state policy to refuse ownership to particular classes of land reform beneficiaries. This was made abundantly clear through the State Land Lease and Disposal Policy of 2013. It was also stated unambiguously when the state fought a bitter court action to renege on an agreement to sell a successful African farmer, David Rakgase, the state-owned land he was using. As the government’s papers in the case put it: the basis for land redistribution is the “principle that black farming households and communities may obtain 30-year leases, renewable for a further 20 years, before the state will consider transferring ownership to them.”

While recent iterations of the State Land Lease and Disposal Policy have been more open to freehold ownership, it is impossible to understand the state of landholding without reference to the heavily statist mindset and distrust of private property rights for black people that have been a long-standing feature of it. Indeed, recent changes to the legislation governing Communal Property Associations deprive such property owners of the right to make key decisions over their holdings. 

The IRR also believes it is important to recognise that land as an economic asset is of differentiated value depending on such conditions as climate, fertility and location. The narrow focus on the racial breakdown of ownership distracts from appreciating this.

“Agri SA produced a study of land value and potential in 2017,” Corrigan remarks, “which demonstrates that if measured by land value and potential, the patterns of ownership look substantively different from those suggested by a superficial reference to land area. To make a success of land reform, it’s critical to understand these dynamics.”

Media contact: Terence Corrigan IRR projects and publications manager Tel: 066 470 4456 Email: terence@irr.org.za  

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za