Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso: Land Reform and rural Development Dept Budget Vote 2026/27

Speaker of the National Assembly 
Deputy Speaker 
Honourable Members
 Deputy Minister Stan Mathabatha 
Chairperson and Members of the Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development Government 
Officials 
Fellow South Africans

 It is a distinct honour to present Budget Vote 42 of the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development for the 2026/27 financial year. We are presenting this Budget Vote at a time when the aspirations and hopes of the majority of our people in these two broad areas have been heightened as the result of a range of commitments that we continue to make as well as several positive impacts that are being realized at the level of implementation. In this address we thus focus not only on the financial resource part of our work, but also on what we are doing in the sphere of developing the necessary policy and legislative frameworks.  

The work of the Department remains directed towards advancing the Constitutional and legislative mandates entrusted to it on equitable access to land, restitution of land rights, ensuring tenure security, supporting sustainable rural livelihoods and promoting rural prosperity, modernising land administration systems, and improving spatial governance across all spheres of government. 

These responsibilities remain central to addressing the historical legacies of dispossession, poverty, inequality, exclusion, underdevelopment and uneven spatial development. It is a generally accepted fact that land reform requires coordinated implementation across government. In this regard, as it discharges its mandate, our Department continues to work within the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Reform and Agriculture, which is chaired by the Deputy President. 

This institutional mechanism assists in improving coordination across departments, reducing duplication, strengthening implementation oversight, and supporting integrated planning in relation to land reform and agricultural development. During the reporting period, the Department acquired approximately 53 000 hectares of land and allocated more than 35 000 hectares to qualifying individuals and communities. In line with the Cabinet-approved Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy, approximately 20 000 hectares of land were allocated to women and 13 000 hectares to youth beneficiaries. 

While this is a positive development, we recognize the need to improve further in this regard; and the Department will thus continue to prioritise equitable access to land for women, youth, persons with disabilities, and other qualifying beneficiaries. In our pursuit of strengthening tenure security, approximately 7 000 hectares were acquired and transferred to more than 700 farm dwellers and labour tenants. With the support of the Special Master on Labour Tenants, 61 labour tenant matters were finalised, while 313 matters were referred to court where negotiations with landowners could not be concluded successfully. Additionally, approximately 206 000 hectares of land were transferred from the State to affected communities through the implementation of the Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act, 94 of 1998. 

At the strategic policy and legislative levels, we have identified the need to conduct a Comprehensive Land Audit, to amend the Beneficiary Selection and Allocation Policy for beneficiaries of the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS), and to develop the necessary policies and legislation to give effect to the Constitutional mandates on equitable access to land, communal land tenure and administration, rural development, and land adminsitration. We have also identified the rationalization of apartheid laws as a long-standing factor that continues to complicate the work of the Department in discharging its land reform mandate, as many such laws that still exist on the Statute Book are in direct conflict with the Constitution. 

This work is to be conducted under the auspices of a retired judge whose appointment process is underway.  As an essential instrument for planning purposes, one of the key objectives of the Comprehensive Land Audit is to resolve the ongoing lack of clarity and disputes around the amount of land that is in the possession of the State. This also applies to communal land, especially with regard to the question of how much movement has occurred in shifting from the 13 per cent that was originally accessible to Africans during the apartheid period, including land that has changed hands through market mechanisms. Most importantly, the Comprehensive Land Audit will also bring certainty about who owns what land in South Africa, in terms of race, gender, business entity, land held in trusts, regional distribution, as well as nationality. 

With regard to ensuring equitable access to land, we have reviewed and amended the existing Beneficiary Selection and Allocation Policy in such a way as to ensure that it provides adequately for those who lack the financial and educational requirements that were previously insisted upon. Yet such individuals consistently and without fail demonstrate the potential to operate successfully as farmers while working under severely constrained conditions of land shortage and infrastructure deficits in communal areas. Similarly, we have strengthened the provisions that relate to military veterans and former political prisoners. The Equitable Access to Land Bill, which is aimed at giving effect to the provisions of section 25(5) of the Constitution, will serve as the centrepiece of the implementation of the Redistribution Programme. 

In this regard, we have made provision for the establishment of a Land Reform Agency as a cutting-edge service delivery institution whose responsibilities will focus on land and beneficiary identification, allocation, and post-settlement support. This Bill, which we have reported on during previous occasions, is at the stage where it is being prepared to be presented to Cabinet and thereafter for public consultation by June this year. The process of developing the Communal Land Tenure and Administration Bill, which is aimed at giving effect to the provisions of section 25(6) of the Constitution, is also on course to be presented to Cabinet and to be taken through the public consultation process by the end of June this year. 

This Bill seeks to address not only the Constitutionally mandated function of ensuring legally secure tenure for the millions of residents of the former homelands and other communal areas. It also seeks to introduce a sustainable, democratic, gender and youth empowering system of communal land administration in which communities and traditional leaders will work together in a mutually supportive manner. 

The Department is working according to a timeline that will result in both Bills being taken through the necessary Parliamentary processes by the middle of next year. The process of resolving the current impasse around the Ingonyama Trust Board – which the media has reported upon substantially – is being expedited. Similarly, we welcome the letter from the Speaker of the House urging us to address concerns raised by traditional leaders and the Ingonyama Trust. Madame Speaker and Honourable Members The governance and functionality of Communal Property Associations (CPAs) remains a significant area of departmental concern and focus because of continuing challenges that are facing many of these institutions. 

This instability also assumes the form of serious tensions between communities and traditional leaders, which is a phenomenon that we are committed to address through effective governance systems and sustainable institutional arrangements. The Communal Land Tenure and Administration Bill will also go a long way towards achieving this objective. The Department had planned to train 790 CPA executive members during the reporting period and exceeded this target by training 821 executives in governance, financial management, land administration, and institutional management-related matters. Ministerial CPA roadshows were conducted across all provinces and involved engagement with 507 CPAs and approximately 2 465 members. These engagements consistently raised concerns relating to governance instability, internal disputes, business unsustainability, inadequate or no post-settlement support, lack of proper accountability systems, and as already mentioned, poor relationships between CPAs and traditional institutions. Also as indicated on previous occasions, we remain committed to holding a National CPA Indaba during the course of this year. 

The work that we have been doing on CPAs is closely linked to efforts that we have made during the reporting period with regard to transferring land and issuing title deeds to communities in many parts of the country. Over the medium term, the Department’s budget amounts to approximately R32.1 billion, with an allocation of R10.336 billion for the 2026/27 financial year.  The Department has budgeted R630 million for the 2026/27 financial year for the acquisition and allocation of approximately 57 751 hectares of land for redistribution and tenure-related purposes. 

The Department will further support 60 farms through the Land Development Support Programme while continuing to strengthen production support and rural infrastructure interventions. An amount of approximately R388 million has been allocated for infrastructure and production support linked to these interventions. 

Madame Speaker and Honourable Members 

The Restitution Programme remains central to addressing land dispossession arising from racially discriminatory laws and practices that were implemented after 19 June 1913. As at 31 December 2025, a total of 83 721 land claims had been settled through the programme. These settlements benefited approximately 2 396 613 individual beneficiaries and 468 761 households. Of these, 181 411 were female-headed and 1 291 were households headed by persons living with disabilities. In its totality since its inception in 1995, the Restitution Programme has seen the restoration of approximately 3 916 733 hectares of land to beneficiaries at the cost of approximately R27 billion. In addition, approximately R27.6 billion has been paid as financial compensation to qualifying beneficiaries, while approximately R5.5 billion has been allocated in the form of development grants in terms of section 42C of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, 22 of 1994 (as amended). 

For the 2026/27 financial year, the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights plans to settle 307 claims and finalise 284. The number of outstanding old order land claims currently stands at 5 245. It is important to also mention that my ministry has now begun the process of working towards complying with the court injunctions relating to new order land claims, i.e. those that were lodged when the window for lodgement was reopened between  2014 and 2016. This will entail working with the Department draft and to introduce legislation to this honourable House.  

The Commission has been allocated approximately R3.839 billion for the current financial year. This allocation supports compensation of employees, operational requirements, transfers to households, and capital expenditure necessary for restitution implementation. 

Madame Speaker and Honourable Members 

My colleague Deputy Minister Stan Mathabatha will provide a more expansive input on the Rural Development functional area, covering the various relevant policies, plans and programmes. Suffice it for me to say that this area is critical to addressing the longstanding phenomenon of rural underdevelopment and the need to transform houseolds and communities in these areas to a level of vibrancy, sustainability, and prosperity.  

Madame Speaker, Honourable Members 

The Land Administration function is central to property rights, investment certainty, land development, and integrated public administration. As one of the key functions in this area, Deeds Registration continues to provide legal certainty in relation to registered rights in land and property, and it supports housing delivery, municipal administration, infrastructure investment, and broader economic activity. During the 2026/27 financial year, the Department will continue advancing the implementation of the Electronic Deeds Registration System (eDRS) as part of broader efforts to modernise land registration systems. The National Geomatics Management Services function remains essential to land administration, infrastructure development, geospatial coordination, investment certainty, and spatial planning. 

The Department will thus continue to strengthen cadastral survey processing and maintaining the integrity of land parcel information required for orderly development and secure property registration. A significant development, which also underscores our country’s growing international footprint, is that the 28th International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Congress 2026 and General Assembly is to be held in Cape Town from 24 to 29 May 2026. This is the largest such event in the world, which attracts around 1 200 8 to 1 500 experts in land surveying, geospatial sciences, spatial planning, construction management, and valuation. The Department will further continue its work relating to geodetic coordination, international boundaries, and professional skills development through the Special Bursary Scheme. 

This bursary scheme currently supports 254 students, with 75 students expected to graduate during the current period. The Spatial Planning and Land Use Management function is central to spatial transformation, coordinated development, infrastructure alignment, and climateresponsive planning. During the 2026/27 financial year, the Department will continue to implement the National Spatial Development Framework 2050 and to advance the development of the National Spatial Data Observatory to support evidence-based planning, budgeting, infrastructure investment, monitoring, and spatial coordination across government. The Department is also finalising amendments to the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 16 of 2013 (SPLUMA) and progressing amendments to the Planning Profession Act, 36 of 2002 to strengthen implementation, institutional effectiveness, and professional standards. 

We are aware of the uneasiness that many traditional leaders have expressed with regard to SPLUMA, and this is another area in which we are committed to facilitate a process of dialogue and seeking solutions, as we consider this area to be critical to land administration and development in the communal rural areas. Support to provinces and municipalities will continue through assistance relating to spatial development frameworks, wall-to-wall land use schemes, municipal bylaws, and broader land use management implementation support. 

The Department will further continue to expand the Drone Remote Sensing Programme and to 9 develop climate-responsive land use management norms and standards aligned to the SPLUMA and the Climate Change Act, 22 of 2024. 

Madame Speaker and Honourable Members 

Although more financial resources will always be required, the Department will continue implementing its mandate within the available resources, approved policy frameworks, applicable legislation, and the oversight authority of Parliament. It is indeed important for the discourse on financial resources to be held under conditions where departments such as ours do their part in terms of spending the funds allocated to them. We therefore commit to ensuring that this indeed occurs, moving forward. Allow us to thank Deputy Minister Stanley Mathabatha, the Acting DirectorGeneral, senior management and all officials of the Department, for their continued work and commitment. I thank you. 

#GovZAUpdates