LAND REFORM24 JUL 2026Measure land reform the right wayThe debate around land reform in South Africa often focuses on statistics, but the true measure of success lies in whether land is restored with dignity, activated productively,…Peter Setou4 min read

The litmus test should be whether land is restored with dignity, activated productively and used to unlock meaningful social and economic transformation The land reform debate is too often reduced to statistics, with public discourse focused on the number of hectares transferred, the pace of redistribution and whether the programme has succeeded against numerical targets. The statistics are important.However, relying solely on hectares does not tell the full story. Land reform’s true measure lies in whether the land is restored with dignity, activated productively and used to unlock meaningful social and economic transformation.

The rationale for South Africa’s land reform programme is rooted in the need to redress the historical injustice of colonial dispossession and apartheid-era forced removals. Land reform must correct the wrongs of the past while ensuring that restituted and redistributed land becomes a functional asset that improves the lives of beneficiaries and contributes to inclusive economic growth. Its success must be assessed through outcome-based metrics.These include its ability to create jobs, support viable and sustainable land use, strengthen rural economies, expand agricultural productivity, contribute meaningfully to food security and drive eco-tourism.

South Africa does not have to reinvent the wheel.There are important lessons to draw from countries across Africa and Asia. Tanzania’s Ujamaa villagisation programme is one of the strongest cautionary examples of the risks associated with poorly designed communal land ownership models.The government abolished freehold title and vested land ownership in the state, with the aim of pooling land, labour and production tools.However, the programme failed to build sufficient productive momentum as many farmers resisted surrendering ancestral land to work on communal farms.Instead of driving productivity, the forced relocation of millions of people into densely populated hubs placed pressure on land, strained ecological systems, weakened agricultural output and contributed to chronic food shortages. Zimbabwe, however, remains a cautionary tale for countries considering poorly planned and politically driven land reform interventions.The fast-track land reform programme, often invoked in debates about expropriation without compensation, disrupted agriculture and contributed to food insecurity. In Sierra Leone, the enactment of the Customary Land Rights Act and the National Land Commission Act in 2022 created new benchmarks for protecting community and women’s land rights.In Ethiopia, a large-scale land certification programme supported the registration of individual community land rights across millions of land parcels.