CPA crisis: Non-compliance drags land reform down

An overhaul of the communal property associations (CPAs) is imminent as more and more CPAs fall into the trap of non-compliance, leading to the dysfunctionality and collapse of the structures aimed at accelerating rural development.

With most CPAs operating under a red flag, this has caused concern for the government, which has called for the disbandment of all CPAs.

A CPA indaba is scheduled before the end of this financial year, according to the department of land reform and rural development, where an interim structure will be appointed to run all the CPAs to ensure they are compliant.

Land reform failure

The CPA Act 1996 (Act No. 28 of 1996) was promulgated to enable communities juristic persons to be known as communal property associations to acquire, hold and manage property.

However, the last report from the department indicated that 1 744 CPAs are registered, with only 7% of them being partially compliant.

In the financial year ending 2024, it is 82% non-compliant, 7% partially compliant, and 11% fully compliant.

Why CPAs are not compliant

To understand why CPAs are non-compliant, we analysed seven years’ worth of reports, from 2016/17 to 2023/24, and developed a high-level set of categories of reasons. The most common reasons are internal conflicts and leadership breakdown, overlapping rights and legal complications, and institutional weaknesses.

Dr Siphe Zantsi, agricultural economist with the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), agrees that internal conflicts and weak social cohesion are major obstacles.

“This fragmentation makes it difficult to work collaboratively, a challenge also seen in many agricultural cooperatives.

“In CPAs, where groups are often large and made up of multiple families, generations, and social classes, reaching agreement on a shared vision or development plan becomes even more difficult,” he explained.

What is needed from govt

Zantsi said that to address these governance gaps, capacity-building initiatives are crucial.

“Training programmes should focus on governance principles, leadership ethics, financial accountability, and conflict resolution. Regular monitoring, transparent elections, and inclusive decision-making processes are also essential to build trust and ensure accountability within CPAs.”

Zantsi added that access to external financial audits and mentorship can help strengthen transparency.

“Moreover, government and development agencies should consider providing conditional grants or revolving funds, tied to clear governance and performance indicators, to encourage responsible financial management,” he said.

Meanwhile, Zamikhaya Abenta from the Gqogqorha CPA in the Eastern Cape said they are concerned about finances that are not being handled properly and not having title deeds.

“While we have the land, not having title deeds prohibits us from doing certain things on the land that the government has given us. The issuing of title deeds is very slow, and we need to see drastic changes in how they are being issued, moving with speed.

“Also, the compensation of payments from the government in our CPA needs to be looked at, as some families are being paid twice. We cannot investigate it from our end; we need the government to assist, so that this does not create infighting in our already fragile CPA,” Abenta said.

In the 2023/24 annual report, provinces with the highest non-compliance included KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, North West, Eastern Cape and Limpopo. Those who complied were KwaZulu-Natal, followed by Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Gauteng and Mpumalanga.

Where to from here?

To ensure a smooth operation of CPAs, the minister of land reform and rural development, Mzwandile Nyhontsho, said there is an urgent need to bring stability into the CPAs.

“The idea is to make the CPAs comply; also, the idea is to call a national ndaba of CPAs so that we make sure that those CPAs that do not comply are disbanded and we elect a new leadership.

“At the end of the day, we must have CPAs that are not fighting amongst themselves, we must have CPAs that are not undermining the traditional leaders in their jurisdiction,” he said.

The government is hopeful that it will transform all the CPAs to be functional, and the interim structure will give guidance on how to be compliant.

Only through collaboration and respect for leadership can CPAs truly drive sustainable community development and equitable land transformation.