A public participation perspective of the process of post-settlement support in Elandskloof

Abstract

Since the dawn of South African democracy in 1994, extensive laws and policies have been introduced to facilitate transformation in the political, social and economic spheres. While South Africa has been lauded world-wide for its detailed and sophisticated constitution, many cases attest to the challenges of implementing the stipulations of the constitution, laws and policies. Arguably, constitutional rights and entitlements do not automatically result in a better life for ordinary citizens post-apartheid. Moreover, restitution processes towards addressing the atrocities of apartheid are fraught with challenges. The process of land restitution is an example that illustrates the numerous challenges in implementing laws and public policies in South Africa. Restitution is one of the three pillars of land reform - the other two are land redistribution and land tenure reform - that were introduced by the African National Congress (ANC) -led government to secure land rights to black people in South Africa. Land reform is essential to bring about political and economic development and the South African government has committed itself to transforming land ownership to reflect the democratic realities and to redressing the history of dispossession and exclusion suffered by the black majority of South Africans. While the transfer of land and settlement of claims have been processed gradually, growing evidence shows that this does not simply translate into development, poverty reduction or reconciliation.