Elite capture in South Africa’s land redistribution: The convergence of policy bias, corrupt practices and class dynamics

Abstract

Land reforms are an important mechanism for addressing inequalities in society. Whileaddressing South Africa’s racialised land inequalities remains crucial, new forms of classinequality are produced through land reform, with the well-off becoming predominant asbeneficiaries. This article focuses on elite capture in land redistribution and analysesland-reform outcomes in South Africa’s state land lease and disposal policy (SLLDP). Thearticle presents empirical evidence from 62 land-reform farms in five provinces of SouthAfrica and shows how policy biases in favour of well-off beneficiaries converge withcorruption and rent-seeking practices to produce uneven agrarian outcomes. Beneficiaryselection and targeting inherently favour well-off beneficiaries, who are consideredcompetent to engage in large-scale commercial farming. Land reform is a new frontier ofaccumulation for different agribusinesses, urban-based businesspeople and state officials,who increasingly benefit from cheap state land and various forms of production supportmeant to recapitalise land-reform farms.