Land reform – Repositioning land reform in the minds of the youth is not about changing perceptions of land itself; it’s about changing realities on the ground. For years, public discourse has focused heavily on the act of land restoration and ownership. Yet, as land is being restituted, many young people are still struggling to find their place within the system and to benefit from opportunities that can improve their social and economic circumstances.

While some communities have achieved pockets of success in youth involvement in land reform, in many others much work needs to be done as young people continue to encounter severe structural barriers to entry. These barriers include lack of secure land tenure, lack of equity and track record to satisfy commercial banking collateral requirements, and lack of access to established supply chains.

To truly integrate the next generation into rural economies, we must intentionally redesign the post land-settlement ecosystem, making redistributed land a functional vehicle for genuine economic inclusion.

Meaningful land reform requires moving beyond the administrative act of property transfer. It has to focus squarely on long-term asset activation to drive the productive use of land and to actively involve young people in the value chain.

The primary hurdle facing young people in beneficiary communities is not a lack of interest, but the severe shortage of post-settlement development. Under traditional models, land is often restored to Communal Property Associations (CPAs) or trusts without providing the operational capital, technical expertise, or risk-mitigation frameworks that are needed to run high-value commercial operations.

For youth within these communities, the barriers are not different. Financiers require proven operational track records and profitable balance sheets before lending money. Emerging young operators cannot meet those requirements and, as a result, prime land is underutilised and the economic potential meant to be unlocked by land reform remains out of reach for the next generation.

Unlocking Community Private Partnerships (CPPs)

Peter Setou, Chief Executive of the Vumelana Advisory Fund, a not-for-profit organisation that works with land reform beneficiaries to put land to productive use says securing private sector investment to help communities to put their land to productive use is only half the battle. “If we do not structurally integrate young people into the governance, operations and leadership of these partnerships today, the country would have failed young people and the generations to come,” he says. “Preserving restituted land for the future requires an aggressive, intentional commitment to youth involvement now to ensure the long-term sustainability of restituted land.”

Setou highlights that, there is merit in Community Private Partnerships (CPPs) as these agreements enable beneficiary communities to put restituted land to productive use. Rather than leaving beneficiary communities to navigate the volatile commercial agricultural market alone, a structured CPP pairs the land-owning CPA with an experienced commercial partner.

Across the country, there are examples of how strategic partnerships and capacity-building programmes can successfully integrate young people into the agricultural and eco-tourism value chains in restituted land.

Through Community Private Partnerships, since 2012, Vumelana has supported 77 transactions and concluded 26 partnership agreements. Through these transactions,Vumelana has been able to mobilise R1 billion from private investors to enable communities to put their land to productive use. These efforts have the potential to create or save 2,500 jobs, thus benefitting 16,000 land reform beneficiary households and put in excess of 76,000 hectares of land to productive use.

Whilst challenges remain, some pockets of success of inclusive youth involvement in land reform can be shared.

The Giba CPA (Mpumalanga)

Comprising 417 beneficiary households across 2 700 hectares of prime subtropical land, the Giba CPA leveraged a CPP agreement facilitated by Vumelana. In partnership with private investor W van R Schmidt (Pty) Ltd, the community secured vital funding for infrastructure, irrigation and energy systems.

This model has provided long-term opportunities for young beneficiaries, like 33-year-old administrator Bheki Mlaudzi, who gained critical exposure to large-scale banana, macadamia, and export-driven ginger farming. Similarly, 33-year-old Bhekumuzi Sibiya, a Grade 12 graduate with an agricultural background, used his existing qualifications to build a private security company that protects the CPA’s harvests while developing macro-level planning and investor negotiation skills.

The Barokologadi CPA (North West)

Settled in 2007, this claim covers 26,000 hectares, including land inside the Madikwe Game Reserve. With Vumelana’s support, the CPA actively established structures to pull youth into operational roles.

After financial constraints halted his civil engineering studies, 31-year-old Letsatsi Ditlhalesecured an administrative role within the CPA, subsequently completing a management course. Today, he supervises a team of young people within the CPA. Furthermore, the CPA’s dedicated Youth Wing, has driven technical literacy, established localised IT support, and enrolled over 15 young members into commercial livestock training programmes at the Kgora Agricultural Training Institution.

The Coromandel Trust (Mpumalanga)

Demonstrating that land restitution can catalyse independent entrepreneurship, 34-year-old poultry farmer Perfect Khoza has utilised a portion of restituted community land to establish a promising broiler business. Despite battling severe infrastructure, financial, and climate-induced operational hurdles, her enterprise employs part-time workers with active plans for permanent expansion.

Setou argues that to amplify these efforts and move from isolated success stories to systematic performance, land reform interventions must be intensified across three critical areas; namely, extensive and targeted post-settlement support, financial support and market access, and ongoing institutional governance and capacity-building support.

Setou notes that over time the CPP model has consistently delivered tangible results and meaningful impact for land reform beneficiaries. “These pockets of success highlight the model’s potential. Now the challenge is to scale these successes to unlock similar outcomes across the country,” he says.