DRDLR: Appraisal of the South African Land Restitution Programme
Abstract
The primary aim of the proposed study, amongst others, is the need to gather adequate and reliable information on the development status of the various land restitution projects in their post settlement phase. The appraisal seeks to create knowledge on what the DRDLR has achieved post 1994 in redressing the abominable legacy of the 1913 Land Act, through one of its three pronged programme of land reform namely restitution policy. This performance analysis will focus on impact and outcomes of land restitution projects whilst acknowledging challenges that DRDLR has faced in its quest to deliver the developmental goals of the programme. This review will also establish areas of excellence, and best practice models of land restitution projects as part of the DRDLR preparatory work for the 2013 centenary project in accounting for progress and challenges that have bedevilled restitution programme in the last 18 years. The outcome of the proposed study will also influence on-going detailed policy review developments within the DRDLR. For instance, the proposed appraisal study will benefit from and compliment the diagnostic study that has been commissioned to gather such information in planning for research. The study will also complement on-going studies currently at the proposal stage namely the Modelling Study (under the aegis of Restitution Commission, DRDLR, Pretoria) and the Restitution Oversight study currently at the inception phase (under the aegis of the Presidency). Although, the proposed study by the Department of Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) will focus on programmatic aspect of the study, a related pillar to its study will be the impact restitution programme has had within the context of the CRDP in enhancing livelihood outcomes. One of the envisaged complimentary synergies to be sought between the DRDLR study on restitution and the DPME study on restitution, CRDP and RECAP, is the draft report of the desktop study which will be ready by mid-march 2012 and will be shared with the DPME personnel in planning their empirical study. Parallel to the proposed studies are policy amendments/re-configuration of the restitution policy and historical research of incomplete claims, and the proposed diagnostic study that are currently under consideration.
