NEOLIBERAL AGRICULTURAL POLICY VERSUS AGRARIAN JUSTICE: FARM WORKERS AND LAND REDISTRIBUTION IN SOUTH AFRICAN'S WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE

ABSTRACT

South Africa revised its land redistribution policy at the start of the Thabo Mbeki Administration in 2000, moving away from a model aimed at poverty alleviation, towards one promoting a class of small black commercial farmers. The broad goal of this article is to explore the competing agendas of neoliberal agricultural policy and agrarian justice in the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD) Programme in South Africa's Western Cape Province. In order to address this goal, the study examines three inter-related phenomena in the Western Cape Province: 1) the dynamics of commercial farming; 2) the background and knowledge of black and coloured farm workers regarding agricultural landscapes and their management; and 3) the pace and quality of land redistribution efforts. The findings are based on fieldwork in the Western Cape Province during the June 2005 to January 2006 period. Case studies suggest that the current model of market oriented land redistribution is highly problematic in the Western Cape. The goal of creating a class of emerging black commercial farmers is seriously challenged by a commercial agricultural landscape that has become intensely competitive and subject to global market forces. Furthermore, the targeted beneficiaries in the Western Cape, mostly farm workers, have a narrow (although important) range of skills and a deep sense of disempowerment. Rethinking land redistribution in terms of smaller scale and less commercially oriented options will be critical for its future success.