ALARM+memo+to+National+Land+Summit


 * ALLIANCE OF LAND AND AGRARIAN REFORM MOVEMENTS (ALARM)**

=MEMORANDUM OF DEMANDS TO THE NATIONAL LAND & AGRARIAN REFORM SUMMIT, 27-31 July 2005= == · Scrap market-based land reform · Make another countryside possible: the state must drive land and agrarian reform · The state must actively and aggressively use expropriation for land redistribution · Re-open the date for Land Restitution Claims · End farm-dweller evictions · Review the Communal Land Rights Act · Promote and develop sustainable livelihoods · A consultative, representative and democratic Post-Summit Process


 * 1) **BACKGROUND**

1.1 This memorandum is a collective contribution from landless communities, rural dwellers, national and provincial NGOs, landless people’s organisations, small farmers and producer groups, housing NGOs, the environmental sector as well as the South African Communist Party (SACP) to the National Land and Agrarian Reform Summit and to the Ministry of Land Affairs and Agriculture in particular.

1.2 As we enter the second decade of democracy, our sector has gained valuable experience in organising the rural poor to access land, technical services, infrastructure and financial support. In addition the sector has been able to gain knowledge of alternative methods for land-use planning within the existing land reform programme. We have gained experience in working with farm workers in struggles to secure their rights both as workers under the LRA and as tenants under ESTA. We have supported residents of communal areas in their struggles to protect their rights. We have patiently waited to reclaim dispossessed land. Still others have been actively involved in the “massive food production” schemes as well as in the public-private partnerships to grow cotton, beet or olives. Ten years have yielded much, and we are well equipped to engage in policy debates given the experiences we have gained over the past ten years.

1.3 **Our memorandum is guided by these concrete experiences and the belief that we can contribute meaningfully to the development of a new land and agrarian reform programme that can overcome rural poverty, rural underdevelopment and historical inequality and injustices.**

1.4 The sector sees the Land Summit as an important moment in the history of our new democracy. We are conscious that this is not the first Summit organised by the Ministry but believe that the decision to call the Land Summit is inspired by the energies, demands, aspirations, interests and struggles of the landless and their organisations over the last 11 years.

1.5 We are participating in the Summit, despite the problems of short notice and the lack of clarity over its objectives, because we view it as an opportunity to engage all stakeholders and particularly the Government, on the challenges of rural poverty, food insecurity, landlessness and massive unemployment. We are also painfully aware that there were previous summits held before which took resolutions. Up to this day we have not received reports on the implementation of these resolutions.

1.6 Rural poverty as it exists today is as a result of the underdevelopment of the countryside, the dispossession of rural people of the means to productive natural resources such as land, water and forests. The process of dispossession deskilled and alienated people from land-based livelihoods. It created a severe dependency on hand-outs and remittances, which continues today.

1.7 An issue that requires urgent attention is the situation of farm dwellers. The estimated 5.3 million black South Africans living on commercial farms remain amongst the most vulnerable people in South Africa. They are subject to ongoing evictions, slave wages, disruption of family life and social networks, insecurity of tenure as well as lack of access to land for their own production. This unacceptable reality continues despite the legislation that has been enacted since 1994 to regulate and give farm dwellers limited rights. This reality goes against the demands of the Freedom Charter, the provisions of the Reconstruction and Development Programme and the contents of the Rural Development and Landless People’s Charters which are not even acknowledged as relevant documents in the current land reform programme.

1.8 Similarly, the enactment of the Communal Land Rights Act was supposed to ensure community control and ownership of communal land, the extension to rural women of equal rights in land, and democratic control of local land administration bodies. Sadly, it has done none of these things, and needs to be scrapped and replaced with a more appropriate law.

1.9 Regardless of all these challenges, we believe that another countryside is possible and that South Africa can redress rural poverty and rural underdevelopment through implementing an integrated land and agrarian reform programme. However for this to materialise, change must take place in the following areas: 1.9.1 Fundamental policy review and policy change that includes attention to key macro-economic policies; 1.9.2 A restructuring of land and agrarian reform policies so that they favour small producers and land-hungry rural communities; 1.9.3 A strengthening of the land rights of farm dwellers and the residents of communal areas; 1.9.4 Rapid release of land by farmers, land owners and the state for utilisation by farm dwellers and other landless people; 1.9.5 A re-organisation of support mechanisms and services for the beneficiaries of land and agrarian reform; and 1.9.6 A renewed commitment to sustainable development is needed.

1.10 After ten years, it is clear that the current market-based model of land reform has not yielded the desired results of transferring land to the poor and redressing past injustices. It has also failed to provide adequate support services to small producers who continue to live under extremely vulnerable conditions. The most productive land in South Africa is still in the hands of white commercial farmers who continue to be the main beneficiaries of agricultural policy. Land reform policy as it currently exists places too much power in the hands of land sellers.

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===2.1 The government has attempted to redress the huge imbalances in land ownership through a market-based land reform that has as its basis the willing seller-willing buyer formula. One of the most important questions that we must ask at this summit is whether or not this market-led approach has in fact worked in South Africa and whether or not it has any chance of overcoming the historical legacy of dispossession and apartheid prohibitions on land ownership.===

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===2.2 The answer is a very clear NO! It is widely acknowledge that the less than 4% of land redistributed during the past 11 years is too little and has done nothing to change land ownership patterns in South Africa. Nor has the land reform programme addressed the livelihood needs of rural communities. Instead, as we have heard from Chief Land Claims Commissioner Tozi Gwanya, there has been massive speculation in land, a sharp increase in land prices, and in prime agricultural zones there have been few willing sellers and consequently little change in the unjust land ownership patterns inherited from the past.===

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===2.3 In many cases it is only small and medium sized under-utilised farms or farms in marginal/remote areas, like those bordering on the Transkei and Ciskei, that have been sold and transferred to rural groups who have applied to the DLA via the LRAD programmes. An analysis of land transferred will show that it is mainly remote, under-resourced and/or bankrupt farms that have come onto the market.===

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2.3.1 **Our view is that we require an agrarian reform that is truly redistributive, one that is based on social justice, historical redress and economic development. In other words, a** **redistributive land and agrarian programme is not just a legal requirement but it also has a sustainable, transformative & redistributive ECONOMIC logic** **The market cannot carry out a redistributive function, but the state can and should.** The state cannot only act as a facilitator of land and agrarian reform, it should be the progressive and pro-poor leader, central driver and custodian of land and agrarian reform.

2.4 We make the following proposals: 2.4.1 The scrapping of the protection of private property rights of the rich in the Constitution of South Africa and its replacement in the Constitution with the right to land for the landless, the constitutional protection of the self-activity of the landless to access, occupy and utilise land and the need for developmental reparations beyond the 1913 Land Act cut-off as part of developmental reparations, historic redress and social justice. 2.4.2 A new Department for Land and Agrarian Reform should be established, and its programmes must to be adequately resourced (in terms of both finances and staff) to drive land and agrarian reform and rural development. 2.4.3 Market-based land reform must be replaced by a people-driven, people-based and state-led pro-poor programme that regulates prices, land sizes, transforms the agricultural sector and its value chain, fundamentally transforms the South African agrarian structure and supports a strong small scale and co-operative/collective production sector amongst the rural poor. 2.4.4 Land redistribution must be the main vehicle for revitalising and driving the re-organisation of the rural economy. 2.4.5 The state must guarantee the land rights of farm dwellers and communal area residents. 2.4.6 State and parastatal land must immediately be utilised in a planned way in all municipalities for redistribution for both livelihood and human settlements. 2.4.7 Food security must be at the core of the land and agrarian reform programme. 2.4.8 A state-led, people-based and people-driven pro-poor programme to provide adequate and appropriate social, economic and agricultural infrastructure. 2.4.9 A state-led, people-based and people-driven pro-poor process to restructure and transform the agricultural value chain process. 2.4.10 Democratisation and decentralisation of processing and storage of raw agricultural produce towards labour-intensive value-adding to benefit small-scale producers. 2.4.11 Democratisation and restructuring of agricultural markets to promote food security and democratised access to markets by emerging farmers, small producers and co-operatives. 2.4.12 Democratisation and transformation of the rural and agricultural finance markets and institutions in order to benefit small scale production. 2.4.13 Participatory and inclusive review of all existing support programme in order to ensure that small scale producers benefit from appropriate and adequate support for farm inputs, extension services, research, and other services. 2.4.14 A range of measures to regulate land use and curb market speculations on land must be put in place (e.g. use of a land tax based on the productive value of the property). 2.4.15 In the next 12 months, the state must support and facilitate a mass-driven land audit so that the extent of land availability for land reform purposes is known and informs the new land and agrarian reform programme. 2.4.16 The right of first refusal on all land sales should be reserved for the state. 2.4.17 There must be a halt to the privatisation of land and other natural resources such as forests and marine resources. 2.4.18 There must be a moratorium on sale of arable land for game parks and other recreational facilities that benefit only a few. 2.4.19 There must be a review of the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) programme and the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) in order to consolidate these programmes on the basis of the state-led, people-based and people-driven pro-poor land and agrarian reform programme argued for in this memorandum. 2.4.20 The orientation of all legislation, policies and programmes on natural resources and the environment in order to promote pro-poor land and agrarian reform and access, ownership and control of all natural resources and the environment. 2.4.21 There must be a review of all existing equity schemes in the agricultural sector in order to ensure interests of workers and communities are protected, and that their democratic ownership and control of enterprises is the actual reality through co-operatives and other collective forms of ownership. 2.4.22 The promotion and state support of democratic co-operatives and other collective forms of ownership of land and agricultural enterprises.


 * 3. ****EXPROPRIATION**

3.1 One of the key reasons for the lack of land transfers over the last 11 years is the fact that most agricultural land is commercialized and privately owned, and the state has not allocated sufficient capital to purchase this land for redistribution. Yet, the government has the power and the right to expropriate land for land reform purposes. In the face of budgetary constraints, slow land reform and the limited supply of arable land, government must make use of its powers to expropriate for purposes of land redistribution.

3.2 Clear procedures and criteria governing expropriation processes should be put in place so that it is not a politically loaded process but one that is linked to giving commercial farmers a clear indication that there is no space for speculation and feet dragging.

3.3 Expropriation must also be coupled to land ceilings and unutilized land. DLA and other departments must see land-use planning and economic planning as an integral strategy for local municipal planning and restructuring so that human settlements, livelihood strategy and sustainable development support are all integrated.

3.4 The government should put a ceiling on the size and number of farms that can be privately owned. Where this is exceeded government should expropriate such land and redistribute appropriately.

3.5 With regards to farm worker housing, the option of expropriating and subdividing land on which farm worker housing is currently located should be explored as an option. In such instances, municipalities need to show their commitment to provide services to farm worker housing. This is necessary to stop commercial farmers using the lack of facilities and services as an excuse for evictions.

3.6 We call for the expropriation and hand-over to democratic co-operatives and other collectives of the landless, farm dwellers and farm workers of: o farms and land in debt to the Land Bank and all other institutions o failing and bankrupt farms o farms owned by farmers who evict farm dwellers and workers o farms owned by farmers who violate the sectoral determination on farm workers o state and municipal owned farms and land leased to private farmers o schools in private farms for them to become government property so that they are secured and that education in farming areas is under the control of the state;

=4. RESTITUTION: CALL TO RE-OPEN THE DATE FOR CLAIMS=

4.1 Land Restitution is one of the main avenues for the dispossessed to reclaim their land rights. Many communities had not lodged land claims before the cut-off date of December 1998. To date the majority of claims that have been settled have related to urban claims and have been resolved through cash compensation as opposed to land settlement.

4.2 The commission’s work is due to come to an end within two and a half years and while most urban claim will have been settled, the vast majority of rural claims are still to be made and those that have been made are not yet settled. Against this background there are justified calls for the re-opening of the process as many potential claimants missed the deadline for the lodging of their claims. Since those that have been compensated financially are still landless (and in some cases find themselves in worse conditions than before) we believe that not only should the lodgement date for restitution claims be extended but that land restitution programme must be amended in ways that ensure land redistribution in the rural areas.

4.3 Many victims of betterment planning in the former homelands were denied the right to claim their lost lands at the time of cut-off date. These communities still need to exercise their constitutional rights. We also call on the state to allow victims of betterment planning to be allowed to submit land restitution claims. We also cal for the restitution process to be simplified, understandable and accessible to, and takes into account the special needs for support and assistance of rural and landless communities.

4.4 Greater effort needs to be made by the Department to ensure that poor people especially women have access to information about land restitution, land reform and livelihood options.

4.5 Due to lack of information, the landless are often not aware of the options and possibilities that a land reform process holds for them. Some of the obstacles facing the landless in accessing land reform include: 4.5.1 Lack of knowledge on the part of the rural poor and especially farm women and men about land reform 4.5.2 Logistical obstacles to accessing the programme 4.5.3 Lack of necessary socio-economic support systems to enable rights access 4.5.4 General poverty and unemployment has also created a situation where the poor have opted for meagre financial settlements as opposed to land.

5. AN END TO FARM-DWELLER EVICTIONS
5.1 The Freedom Charter makes the bold declaration that “The Land Shall be Shared Among Those Who Work it!”. There are, according to Stats SA, approximately 950,000 farm workers and 2.9 million black residents on farms. These are the people who work the land: toiling in extremely poor conditions to grow the food we eat yet their children are more likely to be stunted due to poor nutrition than any others. They must be a priority target group for land and agrarian reform.

5.2 Farm workers and dwellers have not benefited from land reform, instead they continue to be evicted from farms. They are being removed from the land and end up in crowded ‘homelands’ and the growing informal settlements is a continuation of apartheid-era style land dispossession. There has been no information available on the extent of evictions from farms, but a national survey will provide that information when it is completed in the next months.

5.3 It is clear that the continued abuse and exploitation of farm workers and farm dwellers and the neglect of their position in land reform projects is a result of extreme power imbalances between the most vulnerable within our society and land owners.

5.4 We therefore demand: 5.4.1 The implementation of a proactive programme to provide long term tenure security to farm dwellers in homes of their own with access to land for their own production as part of integrated local development plans; 5.4.2 The acquisition of appropriate land, through expropriation where necessary, for the creation of sustainable settlements for farm dwellers within commercial farming areas; 5.4.3 The creation of a dedicated budget line within the DLA budget for the defence of existing tenure rights of farm dwellers and the implementation of the programme to provide long term tenure security; 5.4.4 The giving of preference to the interests and tenure rights of farm workers and dwellers when a farm is up for sale; 5.4.5 Single tenure legislation which does not facilitate and regulate evictions as ESTA and LTA do, but outlaws evictions and legally secures tenure rights of farm dwellers. In addition, this new legislation must create a class of long term non-evictable occupiers, create a direct legal route for farm dwellers to have their tenure security confirmed, and an end to the discrimination against women that positions them as minors whose land rights are dependent on a male household head. This new legislation must also go together with the reforms of the Land Claims Court to achieve the objectives stated. 5.4.6 Separate protection of labour rights of farm workers from the tenure rights of farm dwellers in order to ensure that the tenure rights of farm workers are not undermined when their farm employment is over; 5.4.7 A moratorium on all evictions from farms, rural and urban areas until there is a single legislation on tenure and the effective enforcement of tenure and labour laws by all government departments involved including the police; 5.4.8 Effective enforcement of labour laws for farm workers including far more information dissemination work with farm workers and increased inspections; 5.4.9 The provision of free legal services by the Legal Aid Board for indigent farm dwellers and workers whose tenure and/or rights as workers are under threat; 5.4.10 That departments of environment and tourism do not issue or renew licences for the establishment of tourist or conservation operations without first securing the rights of farm dwellers on affected land; 5.4.11 A 5-year mandatory sentence for all farmers and land owners who evict farm workers and dwellers; 5.4.12 Ongoing post summit interaction with all stakeholders, including engagement with the findings of the National Survey of Evictions from Farms, in order to ensure the defence of farm dwellers rights and that they take their rightful place at the forefront of land and agrarian reforms and in the new single legislation on tenure that we call for above; 5.4.13 Implementation of the sectoral determination for farm workers through: · the provision by the state of a programme to educate farm workers on their rights, · deployment of sufficient labour inspectors who must regularly inspect labour conditions in all farms, · the prosecution of farmers who violate the sectoral determination and refuse access to their farms for inspectors, trade unions and human rights organisations, and · A 5-year mandatory sentence for all farmers and land owners who violate the sectoral determination.


 * 1) **REVIEW THE COMMUNAL LAND RIGHTS ACT**

6.1 It is eleven years since democracy, and meaningful tenure reform in communal areas in the former ‘homelands’, home to 21 million South Africans, has yet to begin. The Communal Land Rights Act of 2004 (CLARA) is a flawed piece of legislation that will take decades to implement and may undermine more rights than it secures.

6.2 The nature and content of the ‘new order rights’ created by CLARA are not clearly defined, as required by the constitution. (The constitution requires the extent of secure rights to be defined by a new law)

6.3 The wide discretionary powers given to the Minister to make determinations on people’s land rights are unconstitutional. (No clear criteria and factors to guide the Minister’s decisions are provided, and few opportunities to either participate in making these crucial decisions or to challenge them are provided.

6.4 The constitutional requirement that tenure legislation provide for comparable redress is not adequately met. (The Minister has wide discretionary powers to make redress awards, and no guidelines are provided to direct Ministerial decisions).

6.5 The measures for achieving gender equality in land rights are inadequate. (‘Old order rights’ are deemed to be held by all spouses in a marriage, not by the husband alone, but the current rights of single women (widows or unmarried women) are not secured, and there is no requirement that land administration committees allocate land on the same basis as men.)

6.6 CLARA undermines the existing property rights of communities who own communal land historically, or through trusts and Communal Property Associations. (Many communities have had their land restored to them through restitution, and many do not support or recognise traditional leaders that were imposed on them in the apartheid era).

6.7 Democratic and accountable institutions for land administration, are not adequately provided for. (The definition of ‘land administration committee’ avoids specifying that it will be a traditional council in all areas where these exist. Section 21 (2) states that ‘If a community has a recognised traditional council, the powers and duties of the land administration committee of such community may be exercised and performed by such council’. However, the word ‘may’ appears to be permissive, enabling a traditional council to exercise the powers of a land administration committee, rather than to create a choice for rights holders. No other provision allows for such a choice.)

6.8 CLARA will in practice impose existing Tribal Authorities as land administration committees. (CLARA cross-refers to the new ‘traditional councils’ created by the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act. This act contains a ‘transitional arrangement’ which deems existing Tribal Authorities (created by the repressive Bantu Authorities Act of 1951) to be traditional councils. Tribal authorities are given one year in which to include 30% women, and 25% elected members, but the law provides no sanctions whatsoever if they fail to do so.)

6.9 CLARA currently does not provide for residents on communal areas to have a say and power in the ownership, control and exploitation of mineral resources in communal lands. Often, the reality is exploitation of workers, soil degradation, pollution and destruction of houses mining companies who have struck deals with unrepresentative, un-elected and un-democratic traditional authorities and other structures.

6.10 Given the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on women in particular, CLARA does not adequately consider the rights of vulnerable households and minors to secure tenure.

6.11 CLARA is not sufficient without additional land redistribution of privately owned land in areas adjacent to communal lands.

6.12 **We therefore demand that CLARA be redrafted to address all the above weaknesses and problems after an extensive process of** consultation with affected communities and other stakeholders.


 * 1) **DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS**

7.1 Access to land can enhance rural livelihoods beyond the survivalist mode if land reform is integrated into a broader development programme aimed at providing other support needed to overcome a range of constraints. Land is the key to addressing poverty when it is part of an integrated delivery system that links access to land with access to micro-credit and support services that facilitate economic and social development in a sustainable manner.

7.2 Urban and rural poverty places enormous challenges on the sustainable management of natural resources. It is important to recognize that reversing environmental degradation will contribute to the reversal in social inequalities and marginalization. Sustainable livelihood strategies should balance and integrate environmental, social and economic needs of communities. An integrated approach requires the establishment of the proposed Department of Land and Agrarian Reform, and the coordination of resources and service delivery from a range of government institutions such as the Department of Land Affairs, the Department of Agriculture, the Commission for the Restitution of Land Rights, the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, the Department of Housing, the Department of Social Development, and Municipalities.

7.3 Consideration of the following aspects is needed: 7.3.1 Alternative models of agriculture and land use planning are required: it is necessary to acknowledge that large –scale, commercial agriculture with high outputs but also high inputs and high costs is not necessarily better than small-scale, part-time production 7.3.2 Food security and food sovereignty must be our priority and not profits. Local markets must be protected and supported. 7.3.3 Household food security and production should also receive support 7.3.4 Basic infra-structure such as water, electricity and roads assist rural communities to develop multiple livelihood strategies. 7.3.5 Planning for rural communities must be integrated, and must consider human settlement needs and access to livelihoods. 7.3.6 Integration of land and agrarian reform in Integrated Development Plans of municipalities. 7.3.7 Provision of skills, capital and credit for small producers and co-operatives.


 * 1) **POST SUMMIT PROCESS**

8.1 In the immediate period, at the summit, we call for the meeting of the demands for a moratorium on all evictions and the expropriation of a farm schools.

8.2 We call for a new land and agrarian reform programme and the meeting of all the other demands in this memorandum by 31 July 2005.

8.3 We call for a post-summit process which must ensure that the summit is not a talk-shop and that its decisions and resolutions are implemented. This process must ensure that landless communities (in particulars rural communities), land sector organisations and labour are represented and effectively participate. Specifically, we call for the establishment of a joint and representative committee to monitor implementation and develop an evaluation plan and the consideration of an appropriate forum for the post-summit processes.

8.4 We call for the provision of state resources without strings attached to landless communities, land sector organisations, labour and other civil society organisations post the summit in order to facilitate mass based land audits, research, capacitation, programmes and activities of landless communities, land sector organisations, labour and other civil society organisations

8.5 As landless communities and land sector organisations we are committed to convene a National Civil Society and Landless People’s Summit on Land and Agrarian Reform. We will use this Summit to take forward the struggle for land and agrarian reform and review progress in the implementation of the government-convened land summit. We call on government to provide resources without any strings attached for the preparation and holding of this Summit.


 * 1) **ENDORSEMENTS**

9.1 This memorandum is endorsed by the following organisations under the umbrella of the **Alliance of Land and Agrarian Reform Movements (ALARM)**: 9.1.1 Association of Community and Rural Advancement 9.1.2 Biowatch 9.1.3 BAWSI 9.1.4 Development Action Group 9.1.5 Free State Rural Development Association 9.1.6 Land Access Movement of South Africa 9.1.7 Ndabeni Community Property Trust 9.1.8 Nkuzi Development Association 9.1.9 Olive People’s Trust 9.1.10 Restoration Farmers 9.1.11 Rural Legal Trust 9.1.12 Sikhula Sonke (a trade union of women farm workers) 9.1.13 SACADO 9.1.14 South African Communist Party 9.1.15 Southern Cape Land Committee 9.1.16 Surplus People’s Project 9.1.17 Transkei Land Service Organisation 9.1.18 The Rural Action Committee - Mpumalanga 9.1.19 Trust for Community Outreach and Education 9.1.20 Women on Farms Project 9.1.21 Young Communist League

9.2 Contact the Coordinating Committee of the Alliance of Land and Agrarian Reform Movements (ALARM): · Lucas Mufamadi (National Land Committee) – 072 159 4073 · Mercia Andrews (Trust for Community Outreach & Education) – 082 368 3429 · Navy Simukonda (Transkei Land Service Organisation) – 083 492 8118 · Fatima Shabodien (Women on Farms Project) – 072 795 5857 · Chris Williams (The Rural Action Committee – Mpumalanga) – 082 829 3443 · Mazibuko Jara (SACP) – 083 651 0271