LAND REFORM POLICY FORMULATION IN SOUTH AFRICA AND ZIMBABWE: IMPLICATIONS FOR SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Intense ideological and political standoffs persist over land and agrarian reform in former settler countries where land access, ownership, and utilisation wield enormous socio-economic and political implications. Focusing on South Africa (SA) and Zimbabwe, this article contributes to the ongoing debate on land reform. Drawing on qualitative secondary literature review and abstraction, this article identifies land reform policy evolution in SA and Zimbabwe and explores the implications of land reform policy on socio-economic and political development. The article shows that since colonial times, asymmetrical land access, ownership, utilisation, and widespread land expropriation by settlers have been the major source of political instability, landlessness, rural poverty, high population densities, and poor land management in SA and Zimbabwe. The article argues for the need for theoretically and conceptually mature land reform debates located within the broad framework of trajectories of transformation, not only economic but also structural.