War On Want : Food Justice : The Landless of 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.