Few issues carry more historical weight in South Africa than land. The dispossession of indigenous people from their land was the foundational act of colonialism — the original violence from which all subsequent injustices flowed.

Thirty years after the democratic transition, meaningful land reform remains incomplete. The willing-seller, willing-buyer model has proved inadequate to the scale of the challenge. Progress has been too slow, too uncertain and too easily derailed by legal and political obstacles.

This is not merely a matter of historical justice, though justice demands it. Land reform is an economic imperative. Concentrated land ownership — with large commercial farms often in white ownership and smallholder farmers excluded from credit, markets and infrastructure — is an inefficient system that perpetuates inequality and limits agricultural potential.

**SPoT’s Position**

SPoT supports accelerated, sustainable land reform that:

– Acknowledges the moral debt owed to those dispossessed – Is pragmatic in its methods, using all available legal mechanisms – Prioritises agricultural productivity and food security – Supports smallholder farmers with the credit, infrastructure and market access they need to succeed – Includes meaningful support for emerging farmers

SPoT believes the Constitution provides adequate tools for meaningful land reform, including expropriation with just and equitable compensation, as determined by the courts. The political will to use these tools is what has been lacking.

**Supporting Emerging Farmers**

Any land reform programme that transfers land without providing support for new farmers to succeed is doomed to fail. SPoT advocates for comprehensive support systems — extension services, credit, infrastructure, market access — to ensure that land reform translates into sustainable agricultural enterprises.

The land question must be resolved. SPoT is committed to making that case until it is.