Nelson Mandela Foundation Hosts Dialogue on Land Redistribution
Thabo Motlhabi
The Nelson Mandela Foundation recently hosted a significant open dialogue on land redistribution under the theme “Why Land Redistribution Matters”. The campaign took place at Constitutional Hill in Braamfontein on Saturday, 28th March 2026.
The dialogue brought together respected speakers:
Dr Mbongiseni Buthelezi, CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation
Advocate Ben Winks, Media, Constitutional and International Law Specialists
Dr Dineo Skosana, Head, Society Work and Politics Institute, Wits University
Siyabonga Mahlangu, General Secretary, Inner City Federation
These influential public speakers shared insights on one of South Africa’s most pressing and unresolved issues.
South Africa’s land policy aims to redress apartheid dispossession through three (3) pillars.
Restitution – returning or compensation for land taken.
Redistribution (giving land to the landless)
Tenure reform (securing rights) Expropriation without compensation is debated to speed redress while protecting food security and investments.
A Call for Urgency
The central aim of the dialogue was to hold the current government accountable and to urge faster progress on land redistribution. Now more than 30 years into democracy, many citizens, particularly Black South Africans, remain without access to land that was dispossessed during the apartheid era. For many, the dawn of democracy symbolised hope, the restoration of dignity, identity, and ancestral land. However, this promise remains largely unfulfilled, leaving communities still grappling with inequality and limited access to land ownership.
Voices from the Dialogue
Dr Mbongiseni Buthelezi, CEO of the foundation, expressed deep concern about the slow pace of the reform:
“We are still sitting more than 30 years into democratic South Africa with the promise of our democracy not being fulfilled, and that promise is a promise of a better life for all of us. The promise that South Africa belongs to all of us, as South Africans, to get that right, one of the things we need to do is have a new conversation about how we are going to distribute land and how we are going to change the financial regime of South Africa so that we can move towards creating a better life for all.
Dr Buthelezi further stated, “We are now finding ourselves in South Africa in a situation where we have stopped being able to hear one another, where all we do is shout at one another, where government sits on the other side and civil society on the other side, where business is on the other side, and where we are not creating meaningful spaces about how we are resolving the most pressing issues of our societies. And so organisations like us, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, want to play a constructive role in convincing those spaces and new conversations about how we find one another and how we resolve these questions.” And critical to that question of leadership, we need leaders who are willing to listen, being able to have conversations with people who are meant to serve, not only in power to take power to serve themselves and their constituencies. We need to broaden the circle so that we listen to one another, and leaders should listen to what people want and act on those demands.”
Similarly, Advocate Ben Winks emphasised the need for innovative thinking:
“We need to think more broadly about solutions to the problems we have been struggling to solve for decades. Access to land is about giving people a place to call home and the ability to build and improve their lives. This dialogue helps us rethink what is possible.”
Land, Dignity, and Constitutional Rights
The foundation highlighted that land redistribution is not only an economic issue but also a constitutional and moral imperative. Land represents dignity, justice, and the restoration of historical injustices.the implementation
The discussion also raised critical questions about the implementation of Section 25(5) of the Constitution, which mandates the state to take reasonable measures to enable citizens to gain equitable access to land.
Part of a Broader Human Rights Conversation
This dialogue formed part of the annual Human Rights Festival, a platform dedicated to addressing key societal challenges. Topics explored during the festival included land reform, economic inequality, healthcare, water and sanitation, education, technology, governance, and citizens’ participation.
The campaign brought together a wide range of stakeholders, creating space for meaningful engagement and the exchange of ideas on how to move South Africa forward.
Public Engagement and Way Forward
The dialogue concluded with an interactive session, allowing attendees to engage directly with the speakers and ask questions and contribute their perspectives. While no immediate solutions were finalised, the event reinforced the urgent need for decisive action, collaborative thinking, and renewed commitment from both government and society to address land redistribution in a meaningful and transformative way.