Pilot activity in South Africa

— a focus on democracy and human rights in the context of land reform

The pilot survey in South Africa focuses on the realization of democracy and human rights in the context of South Africa's land reform process. Its main objective is to develop a pilot tool to assess South Africa's land reform process from the perspective of good governance, participatory democracy, and realization of human rights. The activity, conducted by the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) of South-Africa, consists in the design and test of a survey methodology that takes into account the diverse nature of the South African land question, and the particular needs of policy makers and civil society

Formulating the questions of various stakeholder groups in the land reform process, Pretoria, South Africa

for evidence-based information about effective citizen's experiences, perceptions, attitudes and aspirations in respect of land.

The expected policy incidence of this activity is obvious: it intends to contribute with evidence-based indicators and analysis to the development of a land reform policy based on principles, standards and effective people's expectations of democracy, realization of human rights and good governance.

The task of land reform is difficult, complex, and expensive - and popular expectations seem to have outstripped what would have been possible. In this context, the government, as well as the civil society, lack sufficient information about the task that confronts them. Only one survey has ever been conducted on the demand for land in South Africa, the information derived from it is now seven years old, and the rather unsystematic manner in which it was conducted made policy conclusions based on that information somewhat tenuous. Meanwhile, South Africa's land reform program - and especially the land redistribution component - are proceeding in the absence of hard and detailed information as to the demand for land amongst the previously disadvantaged for whom it is meant. By having better information as to the actual nature and extent of land demand, government and civil society would be in a better position to evaluate present policy and delivery trends, and to formulate new policy initiatives.