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were displaced, particularly those from the foreign countries. The farms that were repossessed through the Fast Track Land Reform were not allocated to the farm workers per se, but to people connected to politicians. The displacement that the foreign farm workers suffered showed bias in the land reform. Those that were not Zimbabweans were left out without land.
It should be understood that this land reform programme was carried out in the name of politics. Politicians decided that it should happen, irrespective of the repercussions. The public servants that applied the programme were subjected to too much pressure as they were expected to deliver within a short space of time.
The Fast Track Land Resettlement Programme in Zimbabwe led to recriminations against the farming population. White farmers and their workers were attacked. In some incidents, farm workers attacked and assaulted those who came to occupy the farms. Women, children, and the elderly were common victims (Daily News 2000 cited in Mayavo, 2002: 57). The land reform policy therefore, had negative and unintended consequences.
There were also numerous disputes regarding expropriation of private farms.
Many of these disputes were resolved outside of Zimbabwean borders, particularly in cases where disputants were nationals of European states (Chokuda, 2009: 753). Disputes of whatever level of gravity plainly exemplify the kind of disruption that can – sometimes acutely – subvert land reform processes. The level of contestation in Zimbabwe also indicates an insufficiency of competent dispute resolution mechanisms; wasteful of both time and money, it signals unacceptably poor public management (see Du Toit
& Van Der Waldt, 2009: 106).
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the resettlement and the transfer of commercial land. This section looks at the history and the policy framework of land reform in Namibia. It further assesses the advantages and disadvantages of the approach adopted by Namibia.
4.4.1 Historical perspectives and land-related challenges
During the latter half of the 19th century, Namibia was a German colony (van Donge, Eiseb & Mosimane, 2005: 3), and the country’s colonial history accounts for a skewed distribution of land, where approximately 40% of the land, which includes commercial, surveyed and fenced land, is in the hands of the White minority. In addition, 40% of the Namibian population live in the northern part of the country which constitutes about 7% of the total land area.
The history of land policies in Namibia is very similar to that of South Africa under the apartheid ideology and was implemented in 1962 by the Odendaal Commission. This is evidenced by the figures given that the white minority occupied 40% of the commercially viable land, while 40% of the Namibian population occupies 7% of the area. These are figures obtained in the northern part of Namibia and an indication of the disparities that existed in terms of the land allocation in Namibia.
4.4.2 Policy framework for land reform
The South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO) which came to power in 1990, introduced a policy of market-led land reform implemented through the willing-buyer willing-seller approach. An agreement was reached that historical claims would not be entertained; because of the difficulty in establishing the exact historical rights of the Herero people (Harring & Odendaal, 2002, in van Donge, Eiseb & Mosimane, 2005: 4). The policy was meant to facilitate claims related to land that had been expropriated by the Germans and also compensation related to genocide attempts by the colonisers. Namibian policy on resolving land issues is similar to that of South Africa.
Article 16 of the Namibian Constitution guarantees the right to property, which includes land, and there is provision for both expropriation and compensation.
The Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act of 1995, Act 6 of 1995 sets out the procedures for land reform and provides for the acquisition of land and its
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reallocation to Namibian citizens who have been socially, economically, and educationally sidelined.
The specific case of communal area farmers in Namibia is addressed in the Nature Conservation Amendment Act of 1996, which determines land rights for communal farmers similar to those that pertain to private land. The Act also provides for communal conservancies. Once the relevant Minister declares a conservancy in terms of the Act, rights are acquired to manage and use game farms to benefit from wildlife (Massyn, 2007: 381).
4.4.3 Merits
The Namibian government has shown commitment to purchasing land for the dispossessed by budgeting N$50 million per year and in its establishment of the Land Acquisition and Development Fund to assist in the purchase and development of land. Funding from the German Embassy facilitates the land reform process in Namibia, supplementing the budget allocated for this purpose by the government:
Germany has recognised that there is a political need for land reform in Namibia. The funds are intended to assist the government’s efforts to fully implement’s its programme (Irene News in Department of Land Affairs, Land News, August 2003:
29).
Besides purchasing farms for the dispossessed, the government has also applied an expropriation policy which targeted farms amounting to 1 268 011 ha that belong to absent foreign landlords (Turkish press. Com cited in Department of Land Affairs, Land News, Oct / Nov 2004: 35). Without the necessary budget, it would be difficult to provide a high standard of service in achieving programme goals (Dent, Chandler & Barry, 2004: 194).
The aim of government intervention in land reform for communal farmers was to transform their status by endowing them with communal rights that would enhance their participation in the national economy, one example being the right to manage and benefit from wildlife conservancies (Massyn, 2007: 383).
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Game farming is perhaps a somewhat unusual form of economic activity, but one which may nonetheless offer a potentially useful object lesson for land reform stakeholders in other countries (like South Africa) that have large areas of land for rural development, and for donors such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and well-endowed NGOs.
Implementation of the Namibian land reform policy by the national government was spearheaded by the Ministry of Land, Resettlement and Rehabilitation.
The powers of land administration were transferred from the traditional authorities to land boards and a process was begun of redistributing White- owned land to Black recipients. As part of this undertaking, the Affirmative Action Loans Scheme (AALS), set in place in 1992, provided disadvantaged groups with subsidised credit to buy farms from Namibians of European descent, and there was also further support from the Agribank parastatal.
Particular attention was paid to capacity building in law and surveying and special funding was allocated for the planning and coordination of the process.
4.4.4 Demerits
The Namibian experience casts doubt on the practicality and viability of the willing-seller willing-buyer approach, with government having insufficient funds and unable to find sufficient land on offer for purchase and resettlement. For people wanting land, the whole process is slow and frustrating (Irene News in Department of Land Affairs, Land News, 2004: 28). The government in Namibia found itself overwhelmed by the public demand for agricultural land, and a situation was reached where farm workers were being dumped by their former employers on the side of the road with their families and belongings (New Africa, 2004: 30). Overall, a combination of inflated land prices and lack of agriculturally productive land slowed the redistribution process to a point where frustrated farm workers threatened to take action against White farm owners, accusing the government minister of completely ignoring their jointly agreed deadline, and pressing for a Zimbabwe-style land invasion.
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