South Africa needs to redistribute rural land in a way which is truly transformative and thus large in scale – but is also practical, affordable and feasible, with well-designed programmes that are adequately funded and staffed. Conservative responses fall short on the former, populist stances on the latter.

The South African government’s promises to give land taken during apartheid back to black South Africans are under the spotlight during national elections this week, land experts said.

Professor Ruth Hall.

Joined PLAAS in 2002. She holds a DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford, where she previously obtained an MPhil in Development Studies.

The COVID-19 crisis has clearly demonstrated the vulnerability of the livelihoods of many South Africans, and highlighted food insecurity as one key aspect.