Rural settlement
Abstract
The focus of South Africa s land reform programme is the acquisition of land and securing tenure rights. Land reform has provided
many people with land. However, access to land is only one component of settlement. Settlement includes the acquisition of land
and shelter, but is not purely about solving the physical accommodation needs of the poor. The creation of viable rural human
settlement is multidimensional: it is the creation of living environments through access to land, infrastructure and housing. At present
there is no clear national policy to guide the processes of rural settlement creation.