| Overview : The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) has introduced the Regulations of Agricultural Landholdings Policy and accompanying Bill (RALHB) with the aim of reversing the legacy of colonialism and apartheid, and to ensure a “just and equitable” distribution of agricultural land among those who live in, and work, it. The proposed reforms seek to ensure progressive realisation of the objectives and principles enshrined in the Constitution, particularly section 25(5), (7) and (8) as well as Section 27, on equitable access to land by citizens and redress for those who lost tenure and land as well as local and household food security. The RLHB/RLHP stem from the 2011 Green Paper on Land Reform’s unitary and integrated 4-tier tenure system, particularly the tiers on Privately-owned land (freehold with limited extent) and Foreign-owned land (combination of freehold with limited extent). The Regulations of Agricultural Land Holdings Bill (RALHB) was published for public comments on 17th of March, 2017 and closed on 17 May 2017. The DRDLR has been collecting and analysing submissions/public comments as they come in. The objective of this assignment is to undertake an international comparative assessment that seeks to clarify and respond to some of the submissions and accord a counter factual analysis that seeks to affirm the objective basis that has informed RALHB. |
