Rural livelihoods and land reform in South Africa: An intersectional perspective on women's lived experiences

Many evaluations of South African land reform emphasize administrative indicators such as claims settled, neglecting outcome quality, gender equity, and tenure security.

“Many evaluations emphasize administrative indicators such as claims settled, neglecting outcome quality, gender equity, and tenure security [16,21].”

Gender disparities persist in South Africa's land reform, with women frequently underrepresented as beneficiaries.

“Gender disparities also persist, with women frequently underrepresented as beneficiaries of land reform initiatives [15,16].”

Historically, apartheid policies entrenched racialized land ownership, leaving Black women doubly marginalized, first by race and then by gender.

“Historically, apartheid policies entrenched racialized land ownership, leaving Black women doubly marginalized-first by race and then by gender [16,29].”

While reforms aimed to empower marginalized groups and broaden land access, weak post-settlement support, insecure tenure, and gender disparities persist.

“While reforms aimed to empower marginalized groups and broaden land access, weak post-settlement support, insecure tenure, and gender disparities persist [12,16,69].”

Access to land for rural women is not only gendered but also classed, meaning ordinary rural Black women are at a disadvantage due to their limited education, class, lack of economic privilege, and lack of power.

“Access to land for rural women is not only gendered, but also classed, which means ordinary rural Black women are at a disadvantage when it comes to accessing land due to their limited education, class, lack of economic privilege, and lack of power [16].”

There is a notable disparity between men and women in the ownership of land, with men owning more land than women.

“Despite the initiation of the land reform program, there is a notable disparity between men and women in the ownership of land, with men owning more land than women [16,49,65].”

For women who live in former homelands and those who live and work on white commercial farms, tenure security and land ownership is still reliant on relationships with men, whether husbands, fathers, or brothers.

“Due to customary law and patriarchal norms and values that are still prevalent in South Africa and rural areas, for women who live in former homelands and those who live and work on white commercial farms, tenure security and land ownership is still reliant on relationships with men, whether husbands, fathers, or brothers [16,49].”

Persistent challenges in South Africa's land redistribution include bureaucratic delays, elite capture, under-resourced post-settlement support, gender and youth exclusion, weak institutional capacity, and continued reliance on market-led acquisition models.

“Persistent challenges include bureaucratic delays, elite capture, under-resourced post-settlement support, gender and youth exclusion, weak institutional capacity, and continued reliance on market-led acquisition models.”