For a number of years, community structures and civil society organisations have expressed concerns with the failings of the government’s land reform programme. There have been growing calls for a review of the land reform programme framework to address issues which impact on the tenure security and livelihoods strategies of rural communities in South Africa. 

AFRA’s work at Ekuthuleni started in 1998. It’s now 2004, six years later, and we have to confess that we have failed. It is not possible to secure tenure at Ekuthuleni, for the purposes for which people want that security, within the current legal, technical and institutional frameworks. A small window of opportunity still exists that might allow us to reverse this judgement.

Globally, the conservation and tourism sector is being enthusiastically promoted as one of the key mechanisms to catalyze rural local economic development. This is particularly relevant in South Africa where tourism is considered an important sector for Black Economic Empowerment and community development. However, there is increasing concern that the impact of tourism and conservation on local communities is not always beneficial and can include a range of negative livelihoods consequences.