An investigation of the role of settled restitution land to the economy of Thabo Mofutsanyana District, Free State.

Abstract

Abstract The study was undertaken to investigate and analyse the economic role of settled Restitution land to the economy of Thabo Mofutsanyana District in the Free State and to analyse the contribution of different stakeholders, such as Government and Non-Governmental Organisations post land transfer. South Africa is a post-colonial and apartheid country that was oppressed by white settlers, due to the Land Native Act of 1913, with the majority of Black South Africans evicted from their land by the white minority government. The Restitution of Land Rights Act, No. 22 of 1994, was implemented to assist in reclaiming the land, with land claims opened in 1995 until 1998, for previously evicted people to lodge their claims. The Government recorded 80 664 claims in the country, with 2 691 claims from the FS province. Currently, Black farmers are struggling to maintain the land, hence the main study purpose was to investigate the role of transferred land to the economy of the District. A probability, simple random sampling was used to select 11 representatives from a population of 15 Restitution farms in the district, and semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data. The researcher did manual analysis to obtain study findings, which showed Restitution farms were not making a meaningful contribution to the District economy and a lack of support from Government, post land transference, was discovered to be the main challenge hindering beneficiaries from full economic participation. The study also discovered that, while the number of Restitution land transferred was increasing, the economy has deteriorated, due to various reasons, including a lack of Skills and Resources. Furthermore, the private sector needs to participate in the development of these farmers, as it was found they do not support them with resources, while utilising their produce. Recommendations were done to rectify the current situation. Key words: Settled Restitution Land, Gross Domestic Product and Employment Rate