Ownership and control of Maori land: Some lessons for South Africa

Abstract

New Zealand replaced customary tenure of Maori land with titles. Some issues are relevant to South Africa. Massive redistribution of Maori land is accounted for by inadequate property rights conferred fay colonial legislation. Institutions emerged to deal with problems of landlessness and low farm incomes created by titling, among which private incorporations and trusts were particularly successful Such institutions may under certain conditions be useful to smallholders in the former homelands and to groups of farmers who acquire freehold land in South Africa.

Notes

Associate Professor, Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. The author gratefully acknowledges financial assistance from BP Southern Africa and useful comments from an anonymous referee. The views expressed in this article are solely his own.