In celebrating 20 years of our democracy, it is well to reflect on the progress made on the land reform front as it impacts on women. In 2010, Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) pushed a national report of the Land Reform in South Africa. Amongst its findings, it becomes evident that in a generalised approval to Land Reform women came worse off as beneficiaries in relation to men.
This research was over a period of 10 years since 2000 – a similar study of the Zimbabwean land reform over the same period, also confirmed that women came worse off. Against this backdrop in 2012 the CGE, in terms of its mandate of lobbying and advocacy, embarked upon a campaign which has come to be known as ‘One woman, one hectare of land’. It was aimed at influencing government in general, women and private sector stakeholders to move the country towards a move director allocation of land to women. Universally the relationship between woman and land is tenuous and precarious in that it is through a father in the family, a male sibling or a husband or an uncle but never directly in the name of the woman.
CGE has invested time in sharing the details of this vision with the then Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, as well as lately with the new Women Ministry in the Office of the President.
CGE has always taken the stance that, in its lobbying and advocacy work, it is not an implementer of the projects, but looks to role players like government departments and other stakeholders to implement and for CGE to play its monitoring role.
CGE has also been adamant that any women economic empowerment exercise without land as an anchor is an exercise in futility. As a matter of fact, the CGE believes that any generalised dispensation of whatever benefits, be it land, health, education, human rights, without a gender focus always leaves women and other vulnerable groups worse off. This reasoning lay, and still lies, at the inclusion of the CGE as one of the Chapter 9 Institutions in our Constitution. It is a Constitutional body specifically charged with the promotion and protection of gender equality and equity.
The CGE welcomes the engagement of government departments as well as rural women themselves, with ‘One woman, one hectare of land’. CGE also accepts that there may be variations of the original concept in matters of details. For example, one hectare may change to five hectares per women for a house, cropping on the land as well as for stock farming. What may not be negotiable is the principle of extending ownership of land to vest directly in women when it comes to commercial land. There may be a variation that envisages access to control and use of the land, productivity, profitably and sustainably.
Lessons from other jurisdictions where land reform has been undertaken emphasise the following success factors or criteria for success;
1. Money and knowledge to start farming.
2. Training, observing and experimenting.
3. Having a plan to use the land.
4. Investing and re-investing in land.
5. Hard-work and living on the farm.
6. Understanding farming. (Zimbabwe Tales Back its land – Joseph Hanlon, Jeanette Manjengwa and Teresa Smart, p112-114)
CGE is fully behind the advancement of women’s rights in land, not only as a way of extricating women from poverty, but also, and more importantly, to see to it that gender oppression and inequality are matters of the past. CGE is working towards a society free from the shackles of gender oppression and inequality.
Enquiries:
Javu Baloyi
CGE Spokesperson
Head Office Commission for Gender Equality
Mobile: 083 579 3306
Tel: 0114037183
E-mail: Javu@cge.org.za
