The Market for Commercial Farm Land in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa as a Means of Redistribution.

Abstract

The election promise of the majority party in the new South African government was to redistribute 30% of the agricultural land in the hands of Whites within a period of 5 years. Transfers of land in the Eastern Cape Province are examined as a case study. While 60% of the total number of Eastern Cape farms changed hands over 5 years, these constituted only 19% of the surface area. A large proportion of rural transfers were small (less than 5 hectares) peri-urban properties which cannot all be considered as viable farming units. At average prices about R1 to R2 billion would be required to establish new farmers on land with the necessary livestock, machinery and equipment. Resource poor new entrants would need a major state contribution to make initial entry and subsequent survival feasible. To achieve their goal through market transfers the government would need to either substantially lengthen its time horizon or lower its target.


Review of Southern African Studies Volume 3 No. 1 June 1999, pp. 146-163