The false dichotomy between land reform and the right of access to adequate housing: a case for land expropriation for residential purposes

Maropefela, Alfred

The false dichotomy between land reform and the right of access to adequate housing: a case for land expropriation for residential purposes

Thesis / Dissertation

2026

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Department of Public Law

Faculty

Faculty of Law

Abstract

The dissertation considers whether there is a false dichotomy between ‘land reform' on the one hand, and ‘access to adequate housing', on the other. This question follows upon scrutiny of the government's adopted approach in seeking to address the housing crisis in the country. Crucially, the paper seeks to locate the housing shortage in the country within the context of the legacy of bifurcated spatial planning inherited from colonialism and apartheid. This legacy has led to a multiplicity of challenges. For the purposes of this dissertation, the focus will be on the often neglected ‘rural' areas which are underdeveloped and characterised by a geography separating it from the economic hub and the market, versus, the urban which enjoys close proximity to the markets and economic opportunities. Thus, in order to address this problem the State should adopt a programme of land reform which will locate appropriately situated land (land that is socially, economically and environmentally conducive) in order to build homes for residential purposes. To access appropriately located land, I argue that state intervention should take place through the expropriation of land with ‘just and equitable' compensation. Expropriation is a highly contested issue between two opposing schools of thought. Crucially, the paper will seek to explore a doctrinal analysis to define ‘just and equitable' compensation within prevailing circumstances. The adopted argument in this paper is undergirded by an intersectional analysis of sections 25 & 26 of the Constitution. The former provision as far as the argument goes, facilitates and, at times, mandates extensive redistribution of land ‘on equitable bases' whilst the latter obligates the State to take legislative and other measures to bring about ‘access to adequate housing.' This approach to land reform and human settlement will increase the opportunities for the creation of more equal and cohesive cities out of those that are still characterised by the divided apartheid-era. This paper follows a desktop approach and reference will be made to books, published academic articles and relevant jurisprudence of courts.

Keywords

land reform

housing

Reference:

Collections

Masters

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