Literature review tenure security and farm evictions

Transcription

1 Literature review tenure security and farm evictions

2 Focus questions What do we know about farm evictions? How many, when, where? What are the causes/drivers of evictions, and the impacts? Why? What needs to be done?

3 What do we know about farm evictions?

4 Background Many landless black people live on privately owned farm and forestry plantation land, a legacy of colonisation and apartheid Two distinct and diverse groups: farm dwellers and farm workers: not all workers live on farms, and not all tenants are workers Likewise on forestry plantations: plantation workers, many, but not all, live on plantations High numbers of people living on plantations, many not employed there. More than tenants on Mondi land alone, 50 forestry settlements in W Cape

5 Background Since the 1970s, there has been a steady movement off farms and timber plantations voluntary movement to urban areas - breakdown of influx controls involuntary as a result of job shedding due to modernisation (mechanisation, larger farm size) deliberate policies to phase out housing and tenancy on farms and plantations

6 Background After 1994, legislation was introduced to protect those with insecure tenure and prevent evictions (ESTA, LTA, PIE) Despite this, displacement and evictions of farm dwellers continued. In 2004/5 a big national survey was conducted to quantify and describe movement off farms (Social Surveys/Nkuze) The survey focused on movement off farms since 1984 (There was already information available on the numbers of people displaced as a result of forced relocation to Bantustans between 1960 and 1983)

7 2005 Eviction Survey: key findings An estimated 3,7 million farm dwellers displaced between 1984 and 2004, of these 1,7 million were evicted Of these around half were children, over 75% were women and children Almost 60% had lived on the farm for more than 10 years Between 1995 to 2004, over 2 million people left farms where they lived, of whom about 930,000 were evicted There was a steady and continuous flow of evictions each year from 1984 up until 2004, despite the introduction of ESTA/ LTA in 1997/8

8 2005 Eviction survey key findings Only 1% of evictions followed legal processes Majority were unaware of their rights or had no access to legal recourse when facing eviction The number of people displaced since 1994 exceeded the number of land reform beneficiaries The majority of those displaced moved to urban areas More than 70% adults evicted had no education, or only primary education and are poorly equipped for jobs in urban areas

9 Trends since 2005 No equivalent quantitative survey since 2005 Research in 2008 in Limpopo found that evictions still continuing, based on interviews on case study farms Western Cape Winelands District 2010 survey of 50 farms did not find any evidence of evictions over the last 5 years

10 What are the main causes? Since and before the 2005 survey, there has been much research, activism, strategising and policy formulation relating to farm dwellers There are widely differing views about the causes and solutions to the problem of farm evictions - the debate is highly polarised Many authors have drawn attention to the enormous variation in different parts of the country and even from farm to farm and to the danger of generalising

11 What are the main causes? There is however general agreement: Evictions have devastating consequences for the families evicted The main reason for displacement is structural - labour shedding as a result of mechanisation, deregulation, globalisation and market pressures

12 Structural changes and trends affecting employment Reduction in total number of farms 1994: farms 2002: farms Increases in farm size and mechanisation Sub sectors vary widely with respect to labour intensity and use of seasonal labour Overall, use of seasonal/ casual workers has increased Changes in land use agriculture to game farming and private reserves leads to further job shedding

13 ESTA Did not stem the tide of evictions and displacement from farms Many are of the view that ESTA has led to an increase in evictions, but there is only anecdotal evidence for this Reasons for failure of ESTA covered in more detail the review on legislation General consensus that legal safeguards are necessary and their effectiveness needs to be improved

14 What needs to be done? There is broad agreement that there is need for holistic solutions that go beyond securing tenure on farms The goal: secure housing and secure livelihoods Tenure, Livelihoods and Social Justice It is important to consider both off farm and on farm solutions Solutions need to be tailored to specific circumstances in different areas/ farms, and to what people want

15 Off farm solutions Movement off farms is a reality; to a large extent it has already happened There are large numbers of ex-farm dwellers without access to decent housing and services; many with inadequate means of support There is need for specific programmes and policies to provide alternatives for an increasing number of displaced farm dwellers

16 Off farm solutions 1. Access to land for housing and independent production A number of different models: agri-villages, share equity, CPAs There have been some successes and a lot of failures, many challenges to overcome 2. Education and empowerment of farm workers, to overcome the legacy of paternalism and unequal power relations

17 Off farm solutions 3. Municipal planning for influx of people from farms especially in areas with high inmigration rates 4. Government programmes providing specific assistance for people who have been evicted from farms 5. Land reform should include specific focus on farm and plantation workers and dwellers

18 On farm solutions 1. Need to strengthen and build on reciprocal relationships between farmers and farm workers 2. Provide incentives, direct and indirect support for landowners to improve infrastructure and services 3. Revise the existing protections provided in law, which are currently completely ineffective and do more harm than good

19