Webinar: The land shall be shared among those who work it? Interrogating the release of state land
Thursday 8 October 2020 from 13:00–14:00 (CAT)
PLAAS invites you to a webinar on “The land shall be shared among those who work it? Interrogating the release of state land”.
The webinar will be chaired by PLAAS researcher Katlego Ramantsima, and will feature:
- Professor Ruth Hall (PLAAS) and
- Tshepo Fokane (Alliance for Rural Democracy)
Last week, on 1 October 2020, the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, announced that the state will release about 700,000 hectares of state land for redistribution. About 19% of this has already been allocated to 275 farmers of whom more than half are women. In the coming month, the rest is to be advertised. Previously disadvantaged South Africans who are 18 years and older are eligible to apply. The announcement follows President Ramaphosa’s commitment in his State of the Nation Address in February this year to make state land available for agricultural production. Penning his weekly newsletter, President Cyril Ramaphosa argued: “This is a major milestone in the agrarian reform process, and gives effect to the promise of the Freedom Charter that the land shall be shared among those who work it.” He further argued that the process will broaden access to land and opportunities for farming, will support job creation and enterprise development, and improve the market for food, agricultural goods and services.
The webinar will explore the significance of this gesture towards land reform in South Africa. Panellists will discuss the following questions:
- What do we know about the state land that is being released? Is it of good value? Where is it located?
- How significant is this land area, compared to land redistributed so far, government targets and public expectations?
- Who gets the land, on what terms, and will it benefit those who have been under-represented in land reform–like women, youth, the landless, farm workers and dwellers, and poor farmers in the communal areas?
- Could this provision of state land help to create jobs, support small enterprises, build local markets for food and for agricultural goods and services, as the president claims?
- Is this how we should be approaching the issue of land redistribution and land reform in general?
Tune in on Thursday 8 October 2020 from:
- 11:00 – 12:00 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
- 12:00 – 13:00 West Africa Time (WAT)
- 13:00 – 14:00 Central Africa Time (CAT)
- 14:00 – 15:00 East Africa Time (EAT)
Watch the webinar here: https://youtu.be/aI9swO_wFJ4 Or click below to view it.
