The impact of landownership on rural development with reference to Syferkuil no. 1 in the Limpopo Province

Abstract

Past land policies in South Africa, which resulted in forced removals, caused insecurity among citizens, the landless as well as insufficient land administration and land use. Based on this problem, the current democratic government has developed a comprehensive and far reaching land reform policy and programmes to effect historical reconciliation, growth and development to benefit its citizens, more especially those in the rural areas where poverty is rife. Irrespective of developing land reform policies and programmes, there are still rural areas such as Syferkuil that continue to experience land ownership problems caused by the past regime. They do not benefit from such programmes. As such, this community is underdeveloped compared to other communities irrespective of being in the vicinity of highly resourced places such as the University of Limpopo experimental farm. For instance, there is no single secondary school or poverty alleviation project and facilities for primary health care in this community. As such, the study was undertaken to establish the impact of land ownership on rural development in this community. Qualitative, description research was conducted and data were collected by means of focus group interviews to get a clear picture of the impact of land ownership on the people of Syferkuil. The study identified and described the issues of land ownership, which are the major obstacles to the development of this community. These include the lack of clarity in land ownership, the lack of authority by the community leaders and chiefs as well as the overlapping of land rights. Based on the summary of the findings, recommendations were made which will be beneficial to whoever might be involved in the development of this community