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Many people lack reliable electricity, clean water and adequate housing. When the state fails to provide these services, rights such as dignity, equality and access to healthcare are undermined.
(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Local political capture impedes SA’s post-1994 planning and development

Political interference, weak capacity and patronage hinder South Africa’s post-apartheid planning, leading to dysfunctional local government

South Africa’s land reform journey is still shaped by the legacies of colonial conquest and apartheid.
(Madelene Cronjé)

Recall unheard voices in South Africa’s history

Adelaide Tantsi Dube’s poem was published in 1913, the year Africans were stripped of their land

(Reuters)

Expropriating land won’t rid us of red tape

Current land reform policy is so bogged down by bureaucracy that there’ll be no quick-fix solution

Forget the white slimy stuff you may have seen your grandad eat; Florentine tripe is brown

A township obliterates a rural life bulldozed by apartheid

This week the Mail & Guardian is proud to publish a story that is a continuation of a new, specialised reporting genre,

President Jacob Zuma said the law shouldn’t be ‘very difficult’ for land claimants and easy for ‘those who say I bought this land’.

No one will be left out of land claims process, says Zuma

President Jacob Zuma has asked traditional leaders to use their resources and help their communities reclaim land – with the help of a good lawyer.

ANC fast forwards vote-catching Bills

The ANC has pushed a number of high-profile amendments to a number of laws ahead of the upcoming elections.

Reviled Land Act is being re-enacted

The irony of two "tribal" Bills that serve the interests of chiefs over ordinary citizens appears to be lost on the ANC, writes Aninka Claassens.

The ANC manifesto promises to address ‘the ongoing problems of poverty

ANC land policies: Talk left, walk right?

It’s good election rhetoric but the main problems dogging farm redistribution are not being addressed, say Ben Cousins and Ruth Hall.

About 1.2-million hectares is unaccounted for in Limpopo, and nearly another million hectares in Mpumalanga. (Reuters)

Up to 21% of land is state owned, says surveyor general

An audit of state-owned land has found at least 14% of the area of South Africa – and perhaps as much as a fifth – is owned by the government.

Modise returns R60m worth of ‘stolen’ land

North West Premier Thandi Modise has returned six farms in the Ratlou municipality after they were taken from the community through the 1913 Land Act.

ANC: Land Act centenary a chance to evaluate progress

The 100th birthday of the 1913 Natives Land Act provides an opportunity for SA to evaluate progress made in land redistribution, says the ANC.

South Africa’s Crop Estimates Committee lowered the 2023-24 maize harvest to 12,8 million tonnes, down 2% from last month and 22% from the previous season.

Farming problems are clear but the solutions are not

Can we create one million new jobs in agriculture as envisaged by the National Development Plan (NDP)? If so, how?

George Mphela holds a photograph of his father

Land reform: Hopes die hard on battle fields

One of the democratic government’s biggest challenges has been to undo the notorious Natives Land Act of 1913 with land reform.

President Jacob Zuma.

Zuma: Land restitution not off the table

President Jacob Zuma says the law dealing with land restitution is biased against claimants and should be revisited to ensure socio-economic equality.