Land expropriation, food security and local economic development (LED) in South Africa

Abstract

Access to land constitutes life for many rural communities and the core mechanism for addressing poverty, hunger and advancing inclusive economic development. Government failures to achieve these led to the advocacy of land expropriation without compensation (LEWC) as the more effective policy. Land expropriation presents an ideal opportunity to redress historical injustice and enhance economic development and food security. Thus, the chapter explores the prospects of LEWC for enhancing food security and local economic development in the country. Furthermore, there is a need to strike a balance between the empowerment of small-scale new black commercial farmers that guarantees employment opportunities, and the increased livelihood of the black and local economic development and large-scale commercial farms, which has the potential for increasing household income, skills development, ensuring food security and development of agro-allied industries. South Africa can benefit from the Ethiopian experience where small pockets of land were distributed to millions of families with sufficient support system from the state. The South African programme of land reform needs to be redirected towards the empowerment of the previously disadvantaged black population as the main beneficiaries. This becomes necessary for achieving the state's vision for 5% economic growth, elimination of poverty and creation of job opportunities. The chapter argues for a robust policy of land expropriation, which is an essential mechanism for redressing policy failures in the land sector.