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In the midst of the whole expropriation of land without compensation debate raging on in South Africa we take a look at the results of a land audit commission and completed by government and what it says about South Africa's land ownership and the usage of land in South Africa.
The details in this page is based on the Land Audit conducted by the department of rural development and land reform. |
South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity
While the above statement is contained in South Africa's constitution, the question whether this is true. Does South Africa truly belong to all those living in it, or is it owned by a select few who were advantaged during apartheid and leaving the masses with owning nothing due to the fact that they were disadvantaged during apartheid?
So lets look at a few of the basic headline numbers before digging into the detail of the land audit report conducted by the department of rural development and land reform.
The table above shows details of what is registered at the deeds office. There are 6.84million erven registered at the deeds office (which makes up 94% of all land parcels registered at the deeds office), covering 3.2million hectares of land (or just 3% of SA's total land) and 8.47million owners of erven, which represents 93% of all land parcel owners in South Africa.
Agricultural holdings/small holdings has just over 50 000 registered parcel (or 1% of all land parcels in SA), covering just over 340 000 hectares (or 1% of land) and there are just over 60 000 owners of agricultural/small holdings.
And lastly farms, which has 419 000 parcels registered (or 5% of all parcels) covering a massive 110.6million hectares (or 96%) of land and is owned by just 527 422 owners (or 6% of total parcel owners). And herein lies the big problem. Of the registered land, 96% of the land surface is covered by farms which is owned by just 6% of land parcel owners. While farmers need massive amounts of surface area to produce food and to produce it profitably, there is clearly a need to downsize the size of the farms, or break the farms into smaller pieces and allow others to own a part of the vast amount of farmland available in South Africa.
However the problem currently in South Africa is that the government of South Africa is looking to take some of the land (according to the ANC farmland will be targeted, but the EFF wants all land to be taken) without paying or compensating the current owners of the land for it. And this is the sticking point. This flies in the face of South Africa's constitution and violates on of the basic rights in South Africa. And without legal property ownership, investment by foreigners and locals will dry up as the land and properties they are developing is not owned by them but by the state. And why would anyone in their right mind invest in developing land and properties in South Africa if they are not the owners?
While a motion was passed in parliament to review whether expropriation of land without compensation would be constitutionally possible, it will be found not to be and therefore it will require changes to the current constitution of the republic. The worry is if you start making changes to the constitution now, what is stopping the ruling party from making more sinister changes to the constitution too?
Agricultural holdings/small holdings has just over 50 000 registered parcel (or 1% of all land parcels in SA), covering just over 340 000 hectares (or 1% of land) and there are just over 60 000 owners of agricultural/small holdings.
And lastly farms, which has 419 000 parcels registered (or 5% of all parcels) covering a massive 110.6million hectares (or 96%) of land and is owned by just 527 422 owners (or 6% of total parcel owners). And herein lies the big problem. Of the registered land, 96% of the land surface is covered by farms which is owned by just 6% of land parcel owners. While farmers need massive amounts of surface area to produce food and to produce it profitably, there is clearly a need to downsize the size of the farms, or break the farms into smaller pieces and allow others to own a part of the vast amount of farmland available in South Africa.
However the problem currently in South Africa is that the government of South Africa is looking to take some of the land (according to the ANC farmland will be targeted, but the EFF wants all land to be taken) without paying or compensating the current owners of the land for it. And this is the sticking point. This flies in the face of South Africa's constitution and violates on of the basic rights in South Africa. And without legal property ownership, investment by foreigners and locals will dry up as the land and properties they are developing is not owned by them but by the state. And why would anyone in their right mind invest in developing land and properties in South Africa if they are not the owners?
While a motion was passed in parliament to review whether expropriation of land without compensation would be constitutionally possible, it will be found not to be and therefore it will require changes to the current constitution of the republic. The worry is if you start making changes to the constitution now, what is stopping the ruling party from making more sinister changes to the constitution too?
While we are all for addressing the wrongs of the past, it needs to be done in such a way so that economic growth, job creation, food security etc. is not jeopardized in the process of doing it. And the exchange rate's behaviour since the announcements in parliament that the motion was passed to investigate the possibility of expropriating land without compensation shows that financial markets and foreign investors are not happy with these developments. See the image below for the behaviour of the Rand since the announcement was made in parliament.
The depreciation of the currency since the announcement is clear to see and shows that the markets are not happy with recent developments in South Africa and the exchange rate has been punished accordingly.
More details on the composition of land ownership
The table below shows private land ownership vs state owned land ownership as per a land audit booklet published by the department of rural development and land reform.
The above table shows that the government (be it national, provincial or local) owns around 14% of the land in South Africa. So perhaps the state should look to hand out the land they own before attempting to take land from others without compensating them for it. Question needs to be asked as to what exactly is the state doing with the 14% of land they own? Do they actually use it or is it just empty wasted space they can actually afford to give away but due to wanting to win political points ahead of the 2019 elections they using this expropriation without compensation story as a political point scoring game ahead of next year's elections?
Around 50% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal is state owned, surely lots of farm land available there for the state to redistribute to citizens of the republic to farm with. Especially sugar cane fields and tropical climate fruits such as bananas. Even in the economic hub of South Africa, which is Gauteng, the state owns 17% of the land in the province. But we suspect a large chunk of that is for development of certain crucial assets such as the OR Tambo Airport , water cleaning plants etc.
The table below shows the amount of hectares of land owned (for farms and agricultural small holdings) in the various provinces by the various population groups in South Africa.
Around 50% of the land in KwaZulu-Natal is state owned, surely lots of farm land available there for the state to redistribute to citizens of the republic to farm with. Especially sugar cane fields and tropical climate fruits such as bananas. Even in the economic hub of South Africa, which is Gauteng, the state owns 17% of the land in the province. But we suspect a large chunk of that is for development of certain crucial assets such as the OR Tambo Airport , water cleaning plants etc.
The table below shows the amount of hectares of land owned (for farms and agricultural small holdings) in the various provinces by the various population groups in South Africa.
As the table above shows, 72% of farmland and agricultural holdings are owned by whites, while 4% are owned by Africans, 15% are owned by coloureds, 5% by Indian/Asian and the smaller percentages made up by "Other" and co-owners. The above table is telling in that it shows the majority of farm land in South Africa is under white ownership. Surprising is the fact that Coloureds own almost triple the amount of farmland than Africans. While looking at the amount of land owned paints a picture in itself, when one looks at the number of people per province per population group that owns farms and agricultural holdings the story is even more telling.
The table below shows the number of people per province per population group that owns farms and agricultural holdings
The table below shows the number of people per province per population group that owns farms and agricultural holdings
So only 181 532 individuals own farms and agricultural holdings. And while whites own 72% of the land for farms and agricultural holdings they make up 53% of owners. Showing that the average size of the land for whites is far greater than that of the other population groups. For example Africans only own 5% of the land used for farming and agricultural holdings, yet Africans make up 22% of the owners, with almost 40 500 African owners of farms and agricultural land yet they only own 1.314million hectares.
Average size of farm land and agricultural holdings per population group is shown below:
Whites: 278.7 hectares per owner
Africans: 32,4 hectares per owner
Coloureds: 242.7 hectares per owner
Indian: 130 hectares per owner
Other: 166 hectares per owner.
The above shows that the average land size for farming and agricultural holdings for whites is 8.6 times the size of that of Africans. While the average land size for farming and agricultural holdings for coloureds is 7.5times that size of that of their African counterparts. So its clear to see why Africans want more land as their piece of the pie as far smaller than that of the other population groups.
Average size of farm land and agricultural holdings per population group is shown below:
Whites: 278.7 hectares per owner
Africans: 32,4 hectares per owner
Coloureds: 242.7 hectares per owner
Indian: 130 hectares per owner
Other: 166 hectares per owner.
The above shows that the average land size for farming and agricultural holdings for whites is 8.6 times the size of that of Africans. While the average land size for farming and agricultural holdings for coloureds is 7.5times that size of that of their African counterparts. So its clear to see why Africans want more land as their piece of the pie as far smaller than that of the other population groups.
While land can be returned to previously disadvantage citizens, the question is whether they actually want the land, or do they want the financial compensation? According to reports published by rural development and land reform a large number of claimants on land restitution claims processed by government in the past chose to receive financial compensation instead of the actual land. The image below shows research done up to 2013 on restitution claims and the compensation type selected for various provinces.
In the Eastern Cape for example almost 76% of claimants selected financial compensation with only 11% of those in Eastern Cape actually electing to receive the land. In the Western Cape almost 90% selected to be financially compensated instead of being provided with land.
In the Eastern Cape for example almost 76% of claimants selected financial compensation with only 11% of those in Eastern Cape actually electing to receive the land. In the Western Cape almost 90% selected to be financially compensated instead of being provided with land.
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