Abstract:
The struggle for land ownership in South Africa continues despite the successful democratic
dispensation. Among other apartheid legacies, the new South Africa inherited a highly
skewed land ownership pattern based on racial inequalities of the apartheid regimes
stemming from the colonial era. The new government introduced a comprehensive land
reform programme, aimed at a non-racial distribution of land. The land reform programme
consists of three subprogrammes namely redistribution, restitution and land tenure reform.
Equity - share schemes are types of land reform, through which previously disadvantaged and
landless people can pool their resources to engage in agricultural and other land-related
production activities with white commercial farmers, corporations or sectors of government.
A critical question has centered on whether equity-share schemes can- and - do really result
in redistribution of power and resources. Most of the research work already done on equityshare
schemes focused much on investigating their social and political aspects, leaving much
attention on their financial performance. This research investigated the financial performance
of equity-share schemes using a recognized set of financial indicators. As an additional input
to the research, the study investigated perceptions of the scheme’s general performance based
on empowerment of farm workers, gender equity, decision making or power relations and
tenure security. A combination of both quantitative and qualitative methodologies was used
to answer key questions of the study. These involved obtaining quantitative data from balance
sheets and income statements as well as holding meetings with management committee and
beneficiaries.
