Increased participation of women in land reform structures crucial to meeting socio-economic development imperatives

While South Africa has made some strides over the last 20 years when it comes to the participation of women in land reform, there is still a lot of work to be done before the country can attain the ideal gender equality in this space.

Emile de Kock, an independent land reform transaction advisor, who is also part of the panel of advisors for the Vumelana Advisory Fund says that, while there have been some significant improvements in the involvement of women in leadership roles in Communal Property Association (CPA) structures in the past 25 years, gaps remain in the overall degree of participation of women.

“In the majority of the more than 40 projects that I have been exposed to over the years, there has been a noticeable increase in the numbers of women in the leadership positions and otherwise,” he said. “I suspect that, in large part, the degree to which women are represented in the leadership structures of these communal property entities has to do with the way that the Communal Property Association Act 28 of 1996 was drafted, making provisions for representation. There are, however, still gaps that should be addressed to increase the numbers of women participating and the manner in which women participate.

“Furthermore, age imbalances still need to be improved. The current average age of CPA members is about 52 years and that’s a challenge we should all address. There is substantial room for young women to participate in CPA structures and in leadership roles.

“The imperative of adequate representation should be communicated as a normal part of the performance process and in large part, public sector policy has done a lot to positively influence this,” De Kock added.

The land restitution programme in South Africa is implemented via the CPAs and other land-owning trusts. Through them, communities acquire, hold and manage property on a basis agreed upon by members of the community in terms of a written constitution. The CPA deals with matters related to the land and oversees any deals that are concluded on the land.

The most recent land audit conducted by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA) shows that of the total privately owned land holdings in South Africa, men owned 26 202 689 ha or 72% of the total farms and agricultural holdings while women held 4 871 013 ha or 13%. 3 970 315 ha or 11% are jointly owned by males and females; 655 242 ha or 2% are co-owned; and 1379 029 or 3% fall under the “other” category.

The Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture, appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018, has found that less than a quarter of land reform beneficiaries were women despite policy pronouncements on the matter aimed at increasing women involvement.

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development has also raised concerns about gender representation in land reform. Minister in the Department, Thoko Didiza has previously highlighted that South Africa is among the countries that have joined the global coalition to champion economic justice for women and a crucial aspect of this is to empower women in regulatory reform and programme interventions that drive socio-economic development. In this regard, the issue of women’s empowerment will be central in policy development and programmatic intervention.

Peter Setou, Chief Executive of the Vumelana Advisory Fund, a non-profit organisation that helps land reform beneficiaries to make their land profitable says, “It is, therefore, imperative to increase the pool of women participants in land restitution and redistribution programmes, as this will go a long way towards addressing women empowerment and in enabling women to play their rightful roles both in society in general and in business.”

“In land restitution, you typically end up with very large numbers of beneficiaries, because land restitution attempts to provide redress to communities whose families were historically forcibly removed,” he explained. “Land redistribution is different. In those cases, you typically have families, individuals or small groups who have applied to acquire land for agricultural purposes. In both cases, however, the representation of women in decision-making roles remains important, because by and large men have traditionally dominated in these roles,” noted Setou.