The land reform programme, initiated in 1994, was meant to restore dignity and hope to South African communities forcibly removed from their ancestral lands. However, three decades later, the slow pace of land restitution and redistribution has dampened many of those hopes.
Despite government efforts, the challenges facing land reform are too complex for state resources alone to solve.
According to Peter Setou, the chief executive officer of Vumelana Advisory Fund, the high failure rate of land reform projects has been attributed to several factors, lack of skills, limited access to funding, insufficient asset management support, and failure to adhere to basic administrative and corporate governance principles.
“The failure of the land reform programme highlights the need for private sector involvement to revive the process and, in particular, to play a part in the provision of post-settlement support, a crucial area where many projects have failed due to a lack of resources,” he said.
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Setou explained that corporate social investment (CSI) can play a crucial role in bringing the expertise, resources, and capacity necessary to drive sustainable development, economic growth, and a sustainable land restitution process, post-settlement.
He advocated for deliberate efforts to channel CSI funding into land reform, providing resources such as training and financial support to help communities thrive. “Channelling CSI funding into land reform can enable land reform beneficiary communities [to] access the resources they need to put their land to productive use.”
Setou added that CSI is “a crucial piece of the puzzle” in driving the success of land reform and improving the livelihoods of rural communities.
“There needs to be a deliberate effort to channel some CSI funding towards land reform to support efforts in driving the success of land reform, which will culminate in job creation, improved livelihoods and the revitalisation of rural communities,” he said.
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