Policies & challenges in addressing the land question in the neoliberal democracy of South Africa (case study of the former Ciskei homeland).

Abstract

The post 1994 land question has been a contentious issue among different political parties, civil society structures, rural social movements and governmental institutions in South Africa. The current disparities in the ownership and distribution of land were caused by the Land Act which was passed during the colonial times. The Land Act resulted in the indigenous people-the majority- owning a small portion of the land in South Africa. After 1994 the government has made efforts to redress these imbalances. However, literature indicates that this has brought little progress and the legacy of colonial dispossession still persists. The Eastern Cape Province is no exception to this. The problem that currently faces the former homeland of Ciskei in the Eastern Cape is the increasing number of people who are becoming impatient with the slow pace of land reform in a democratic South Africa .The problem becomes greater as the South African government post 1994 continues to adhere to liberal policies in dealing with the challenges of the land question. In light of this, this study seeks to investigate the policies and challenges in addressing the of land redistribution in a liberal democracy based on private property. This study follows a qualitative research methodology of data collection comprised of questioners, and interviews. Findings of previous research, studies documentary sources, newspaper reports etc, survey findings of specific questions that relate to this key research question. To investigate the challenges of land redistribution in the liberal democracy of South Africa, a Marxist approach was used. Findings showed that the current land reform in South Africa is not popular with the masses as it employs market related strategy of redistributing land. Findings further revealed that participants believed that little has been done by the government and poor policy implementation is the cause of the low pace in distributing land.