Food Justice

The Landless of South Africa

South Africa Landless People's Movement

The majority of black South Africans still live without land. The roots of this inequality lie in the country's history of colonialism and racist apartheid policies, but it is now exacerbated by the policies of the IMF and World Bank.

LPM's Aims

To strengthen the capacity of the rural landless to organise effectively and advocate for themselves
To speed up land reform and hold the government to account on their promises
To draw on a wider South/South network to support initiatives of landless people in South Africa
To develop public awareness nationally and internationally about the needs of rural landless communities in South Africa

The policies of international financial institutions have meant that the racially-skewed distribution of land has barely been altered in the 12 years following the birth of the ‘new’ South Africa. Under apartheid, the black majority were confined to 13% of the land, whilst the white minority controlled the remaining 87%. Despite years of 'land reform', 85% of the country remains under white ownership.

Meanwhile, 19 million black South Africans eke out a living on the remaining 15% of land and millions of urban black South Africans face eviction from the ‘illegal’ informal settlements that surround the cities.

The rural poor have pushed for their problems to be addressed, but there is a lack of political will on the part of government to challenge the powerful white agricultural lobby and others with property interests in South Africa.

The situation worsened at the end of the 1990s following the introduction of a new policy that leaves land redistribution primarily to market forces, a policy promoted by the World Bank across the world. Neoliberal economic policies have not improved the lives of the poor, and the government has closed its ears to public consultation.

Many poor rural constituencies across the country have grown tired of the government's broken promises on land reform. In July 2001 a decision was made by various community leaders to form a new national Landless People’s Movement. A plan of action was drawn up, beginning with the formation of a Landless People’s Assembly and a march to coincide with the World Conference Against Racism in Durban.

The LPM is still at the early stages of mobilising people. It is working on building up the movement's leadership and profile, developing ways to attract new members, and forming relations with the government and other social movements. War on Want supports and assists their work.

LPM's activities

Workshops and training organised for leaders and members in political education and land reform, experiences from other countries, leadership skills, and financial training
International exchange with the MST of Brazil to learn from their proven record of effective membership building, advocacy activities and media profiling
Participation in Via Campesina's African activities

The Facts

12 years after the fall of apartheid, only 2-3% of the land has been transferred from white ownership to the landless
South African agricultural policy targets the small percentage of farmers who are potentially commercial, ignoring the neediest

War on Want's Food Justice programme
Small farmers worldwide struggle against exploitation by big agribusinesses and other injustices. Find out what we're doing about it.

Join the fight against global poverty:
Be a part of the solution. We need your help and support to continue our work campaigning and supporting overseas projects.

« top