Episode 8: “The Original Sin”: Presidential Land Reform Panel Report - Unpacking the origins and findings

Talking Transformation

The issue of land reform in South Africa is arguably the most politically charged issue facing the country, its citizens and politicians charged with leading a transformation agenda. In October 2018, President Ramaphosa stated “…Our nation is focused on the effort to correct the original sin of land dispossession”, a month after he appointed an expert advisory panel on Land Reform and Agriculture.

Releasing the panel’s final report in July 2019, Chairperson Dr Vuyokazi Mahlati suggested that: “The urgency and Constitutional imperative of land reform in South Africa can neither be taken lightly nor postponed.”

Today’s Talking Transformation Podcast guest is Professor Ruth Hall, (Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape), one of Dr Mahlati’s fellow panel members. A distinguished expert in issues of agrarian reform she holds a DPhil in Politics from the University of Oxford where she focused on the interests, actors and discourses that influenced the development of South African land reform policy. In this episode she summarises the background to the report, a number of its key findings and recommendations. Her expert oversight and clarity of perspective provides an hour-long, unmissable “master class”. The content is topical, urgent and a must-listen for listeners who have not yet considered thePanel’s issues and findings.

Recorded August 21st 2019