Youth and land reform politics: a post-aparthedi South African perspective

Abstract

South Africa’s post-apartheid government land reform programme is a central aspect and epitomises the constitutional measure to provide solid redress. Land reform policies and youth socio-economic concerns demonstrate how democratic political power has been used for the past twenty-nine years. Youth is the engine of every country and a critical mass of society. Emerging democratic administration is experiencing the highest level of youth crisis without accessing the basis of wealth, and land. This study explores the socio-economic predicament youth face on the land reform policies of post-apartheid South Africa. The qualitative research method and exploratory design were applied in this study. Purposive sampling was used to select participants and interviews were used for data collection. Content analysis with the help of Atlas.ti was used to analyse both raw data and documents. The study was premised on three objectives which were to analyse South Africa’s land reform policies and assess its implementation. The critique on the impact of the policy on youth socioeconomic emancipation processes, and also explores potential transformation opportunities for land reform and youth. The redistributive justice theory was applied to provide a roadmap and interpretation of the arguments regarding the phenomena under study. The findings of the study suggest that the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, the National Assembly, and the Congress of South African Traditional Leaders need to improve the facilitation of land administration for youth to gain access to land. The study concludes that there is a serious need for the promulgation of a youth land ownership policy after the almost a quarter of a century under a democratic South Africa.