In the Shadow of Policy. Robert Ross
for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Hall, R. (ed.) 2009. Another countryside? Policy options for land and agrarian reform in South Africa, Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Hall, R. 2010. ‘Two cycles of land policy in South Africa: tracing the contours’, in W. Anseeuw and C. Alden (eds) The struggle over land in Africa: conflicts, politics and change, Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Hall, R. 2011. ‘The politics of land reform in post-apartheid South Africa, 1990 to 2004: a shifting terrain of power, actors and discourses’, unpublished PhD thesis, Oxford: St Antony’s College, University of Oxford.
Harvey, D. 2005. A brief history of neoliberalism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jacobs, P. 2003. Support for agricultural development. Occasional Paper No. 4, Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa series, Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Jacobs, P., E. Lahiff and R. Hall. 2003. Land redistribution. Occasional Paper No. 1, Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa series, Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Kleinbooi, K. 2009. ‘The private sector and land reform’, in R. Hall (ed.) Another countryside? Policy options for land and agrarian reform in South Africa, Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Kleinbooi, K. 2011. ‘Reopening restitution’, Umhlaba Wethu, 12: 7, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Lahiff, E. 2007. ‘“Willing buyer, willing seller”: South Africa’s failed experiment in market-led agrarian reform’, Third World Quarterly, 28(8): 1577–1598.
Lahiff, E. 2008. ‘Land reform in South Africa: a status report 2008’, Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Levin R. and D. Weiner. 1996. ‘The politics of land reform in South Africa after apartheid: perspectives, problems, prospects’, in H. Bernstein (ed.) The agrarian question in South Africa, London: Frank Cass.
Louw, A., H. Vermeulen, J. Kirsten and H. Madevu. 2007. ‘Securing small farmer participation in supermarket supply chains in South Africa’, Development Southern Africa, 24: 539–551.
Marais, H. 2011. South Africa pushed to the limit: the political economy of change, Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press.
Mayson, D. 2003. Joint ventures. Occasional Paper No. 7, Evaluating land and agrarian reform in South Africa series, Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
NPC (National Planning Commission). 2011. National development plan 2030: our future – make it work, Pretoria: National Planning Commission.
Ranwedzi, E. 2011. ‘The potential and limits of the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS): land reform implementation in Gauteng province of South Africa’, presentation to the New Researchers’ Workshop on Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, 27–28 October.
RSA (Republic of South Africa). 1995. White Paper on agriculture, Pretoria: Ministry of Agriculture.
Tapela, B. 2005. Joint ventures and livelihoods in emerging small-scale irrigation schemes in greater Sekhukhune District: perspectives from Hereford, Research Report No. 21, Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Turner, S. 2002. Land and agrarian reform in South Africa: a status report, Research Report No. 12, Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.
Umhlaba Rural Services. 2009. ‘National assessment of the comprehensive rural development pilots’, report submitted to the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Umhlaba Rural Services.
Van Rooyen, J., S. Hobson and J. Kirsten. 2010. ‘The contribution of agribusinesses to broad-based black empowerment in South African agriculture’, Pretoria: Agricultural Business Chamber.
Van Schalkwyk H., J.A. Groenewald and A. Jooste. 2003. ‘Agricultural marketing in South Africa’, in L. Nieuwoudt and J.A. Groenewald (eds) The challenge of change: agriculture, land and the South African economy, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
Vermeulen, S., J. Woodhill, F. Proctor and R. Delnoye. 2008. Chain-wide learning for inclusive agrifood market development: a guide to multi-stakeholder processes for linking small-scale producers to modern markets, London: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and Wageningen: Wageningen University, the Netherlands.
Walker, C. 2008. Landmarked: land claims and land restitution in South Africa, Johannesburg and Athens, Jacana and Ohio University Press.
Wildschut, A. and S. Hulbert. 1998. A seed not sown: prospects of agrarian reform in South Africa, Johannesburg: Deutsche Welthungerhilfe/Interfund.
Part 2
‘Mind the gap’: discrepancies between policies and practices in South African land reform
4
Consultants, business plans and
land reform practices
Francois Marais
I visited the Lethu-Sonke farmers in September 2007, accompanied by Willem, the agricultural specialist employed by the provincial agricultural ministry. He had been involved with the Lethu-Sonke beneficiaries since the inception of the project. ‘These beneficiaries do just what they want … and normally they plainly just do nothing,’ sighed Willem. ‘The conditions are right for planting, but you will not find anybody working the fields now … Just look at this place … they do not use that broiler house you see there … it was recommended by the consultant and constructed brand new for them … government spent a lot of money on it.’ Certain that the beneficiaries would not be busy elsewhere on the farm, he led me straight to the house. He was right. We found Mama Zukisa1 and several other people there, not all of them land reform beneficiaries. I later found out that these ‘other’ individuals were tenants living and working on the farm. No one was planting crops or tending cattle. This pattern was repeated on subsequent visits to Lethu-Sonke, and was also regularly observed on the Good Hope farm. Beneficiaries were often to be found relaxing next to the fireplace, on the stoep or under a tree. They were clearly not following the experts’ recommendations as detailed in their respective business plans.
Beneficiaries are advised by experts who compile a detailed business plan for each project. Much of the advice contained in the business plans concerns agricultural production and the management of the farm as an (agri)business. The plans detail what should be produced and how an optimum return on investments can be made. These plans are compulsory and used to judge the viability of a project before it begins. They are typically compiled by consultants, who believe that projects will be viable, efficient and productive if their plans are followed. The business plans are scrutinised by agricultural officials and expert committees before they are approved. The Western Cape provincial government uses the economic viability of projects to measure the success of agricultural support programmes in land reform: recipients of land are expected to make productive use of their land or lose it (Ministerial Media Release 2009: 3).
Business plans play a key role in fostering efficient production (N. Vink, personal communication, November 2010). They have to meet minimum requirements and, along with the extensive application procedure, necessitate the use of consultants. These consultants typically receive the most substantial component of their remuneration when the business plans they have devised are approved by the officials. This encourages them to design project plans that will satisfy the wishes of those officials.