Land Reform in South Africa Multi-Faceted

 

By Delia Robertson

Changing the demographics of land ownership in South Africa is an ongoing¹ and enormous challenge. Under apartheid, 87 percent of the land mass was earmarked for whites who comprised just 13 percent of the population.

The first challenge of the government's five-part reform program was housing in and around towns and cities. Ownership of state-owned houses in so-called black townships was transferred to the occupiers and the government embarked² on an intensive campaign to build some five million low-cost homes in 10 years.

Even so, huge backlogs³ remain with seven million South Africans still occupying shanties⁴ in informal settlements.

The next step was restitution⁵ of land taken from black South Africans between 1913 and 1994. A land claims commission and land claims court was put into place to administer and adjudicate some 80,000 claims.

President Thabo Mbeki has set December 2005 as the deadline for settlement of all restitution claims, but professor Ben Cousins says that target is likely to slip.

"And in our view, that's unlikely to be met, because the great majority of rural claims have not been settled - and they usually involve land," he said. "People are offered a choice, of either restoring their original land and often their first choice; or, if that's not possible receiving alternative land; or, receiving a cash compensation payout."

Professor Cousins, director of the Program for Land & Agrarian⁶ Studies at the University of the Western Cape⁷, says that the restitution program remains⁸ severely⁹ under resourced.

"We don't think they can finish the program by the end of next year," he said, "and we also think that they need even greater increases in their budget than they have received recently to do that and they also have to really take on the challenge of supporting people's livelihood¹⁰ activities once they've had their land restored to them."

The third element of land reform in South Africa is redistribution of farmland. Just 13 percent of the country's landmass is suitable for crop production or animal husbandry, almost all of it owned by white commercial farmers.

It is this area of reform that has been lagging behind, even though more than half of white farmers support the government's land reform policies. Wayne Jordaan of The Rural Action Committee in Potchefstroom says the slow pace of redistribution is hampering¹¹ rural development and poverty relief.

"And for us that is a very big problem because land reform and appropriate rural development is one of the mechanisms¹² in which our country can address the severe poverty problems that we are experiencing in our country," he said.

Mr. Jordaan says that in addition to delay in redistribution caused both by policy weaknesses and financial constraints¹³, there are insufficient¹⁴ support programs to ensure that benefits reach surrounding communities.

"So in my opinion in the rural areas it will make significant impact, at the same time you need to have other programs in support of that agricultural outpoint that you desire," he said. "For example the process of beneficiation that where not everybody can actually have a farm or work a farm, they can benefit from agricultural output."

The fourth element of land reform is so-called tenure¹⁵, which protects individuals such as farm workers who have lived for years on commercial farms. Professor Cousins says, as in the case of restitution, tenure is enshrined in the constitution.

"And also on the basis of clearly defined rights the need for tenure reform is laid out in the constitution so people whose tenure of land, whose land rights are legally insecure as a result of past practices and laws, are entitled to the extent provided by an act of parliament to either legally secure land tenure; or to comparable redress," he said.

The longer a worker lives on a farm, the more rights he enjoys while the farmer's right to evict¹⁶ workers decreases. As a result more and more farmers use part-time workers or contractors¹⁷ which allows them to fire and evict fulltime workers as surplus to their needs. In these cases, says Mr Jordaan, the law is actually being used against farm workers.

"Where we are trying to get farm workers security of tenure, often current landowners are using that legislation to actually get farm dwellers¹⁸ evicted," he said.

The final element of South Africa's land reform program is communal¹⁹ land, for which, in most cases, ownership is vested in the state. New legislation provides for transferring ownership to communities while protecting individual tenure.

But Professor Cousins says the legislation does not adequately address the rights of women and that administration of communal lands will fall under traditional leaders, many of whom are discredited²⁰. But, he says, the biggest challenge is going to be defining both the communities and the boundaries of the land they occupy.

While most analysts²¹ agree that the legislative²² framework for land reform in South Africa is generally good, they also agree that weaknesses are often to be found in policy and implementation²³.

The government appears to have taken some of these criticisms to heart. There is new legislation in the pipeline²⁴ to address redistribution and management of farmland; and this week the Land and Agriculture minister is holding a workshop to address issues of support for newly settled landowners.

Delia Robertson, VOA News, Johannesburg.

注释：
demographics 人口统计状况
apartheid 隔离政策
embark on 着手
restitution 归还
compensation 补偿
budget 预算
redistribution 重新分配
The Rural Action Committee 乡村组织委员会
Potchefstroom 波特斯卓姆
insufficient 不充分的
parliament 议会
legislation 法律

1 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

2 embarked   

乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• We stood on the pier and watched as they embarked. 我们站在突码头上目送他们登船。
• She embarked on a discourse about the town's origins. 她开始讲本市的起源。

3 backlogs   

积压未办之事( backlog的名词复数 )； 没交付的订货； 备用； 备用物

参考例句：

• "You'll need kindling and medium wood and logs and backlogs. “点火柴、引火柴、原木、垫底的，你都用得着。” 来自名作英译部分
• Our manufacturers have heavy backlogs on their hands. 我们的生产厂商手头有许多积压而没有交付的订单。

4 shanties   

n.简陋的小木屋( shanty的名词复数 )；铁皮棚屋；船工号子；船歌

参考例句：

• A few shanties sprawl in the weeds. 杂草丛中零零落落地歪着几所棚屋。 来自辞典例句
• The workers live in shanties outside the factory. 工人们住在工厂外面的小棚屋内。 来自互联网

5 restitution   

n.赔偿；恢复原状

参考例句：

• It's only fair that those who do the damage should make restitution.损坏东西的人应负责赔偿，这是再公平不过的了。
• The victims are demanding full restitution.受害人要求全额赔偿。

6 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

7 cape   

n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风

参考例句：

• I long for a trip to the Cape of Good Hope.我渴望到好望角去旅行。
• She was wearing a cape over her dress.她在外套上披着一件披肩。

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

10 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

11 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。

12 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

14 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

15 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

16 evict   

vt.驱逐，赶出，撵走

参考例句：

• The lessor can evict the lessee for failure to pay rent.出租人可驱逐不付租金的承租人。
• The government always says it's for the greater good when they evict farmers from their land.当政府把农民从他们的土地赶出去的时候，总是号称是为了更大众的利益。

17 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 dwellers   

n.居民，居住者( dweller的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes. 城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They have transformed themselves into permanent city dwellers. 他们已成为永久的城市居民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

20 discredited   

不足信的，不名誉的

参考例句：

• The reactionary authorities are between two fires and have been discredited. 反动当局弄得进退维谷，不得人心。
• Her honour was discredited in the newspapers. 她的名声被报纸败坏了。

21 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

22 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

23 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

24 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。