Land redistribution and gender : a case study

Abstract

Land redistribution is one of the three components of the national land reform programme carried out by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in South Africa. Its aim is to redistribute land to the landless poor, farm workers and upcoming farmers mainly for residential and commercial uses with a view to improving livelihoods and their quality of life (DLA, 1997; Bradstock, 2005). A gender policy that indicates how women should access and benefit from the land redistribution programme (DLA, 1997) was developed to facilitate the land redistribution process. This research takes the form of a case study and explores how these gender considerations were implemented as well as the lived realities on a redistributed farm. The research seeks to understand gender dynamics in decision-making and resource allocation on a redistributed farm. The extent to which roles and relationships, division of labour and power relations have changed as beneficiaries take on the responsibility of managing the farm with a view to enhancing their livelihood strategy is explored. Results suggest the gender policy has not adequately addressed the issues around equity with gendered power relations and division of labour evident.