Citation

Moseley WG, McCusker B. Geogr. Rev. 2008; 98(3): 322-338.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, American Geographical Society)

DOI

10.1111/j.1931-0846.2008.tb00304.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Since the rise of its first democratically elected government in 1994, South Africa has sought to redress its highly inequitable land distribution through a series of land-reform programs. In this study we examine land-redistribution efforts in two of South Africa's provinces, the Western Cape and Limpopo. By analyzing a cross-section of projects in these two locales we develop a political ecology of stymied land-reform possibilities to explain the limited progress to date. Given South Africa's ambitious goal of redistributing 30 percent of its white-owned land by 2014 and the incremental and flawed nature of its redistribution program, we argue that the process is like trying to put out a fire with a broken teacup. Our results are based on interviews with policymakers, commercial farmers, and land-redistribution beneficiaries, as well as on an analysis of land-use change in Limpopo Province.