Department Of Rural Development And Land Reform Constitutional Mandate

South Africans have reason to be proud of their achievements over the past 18 years. Dating from the election in April 1994, in which our country chose democracy as its badge and a rainbow as its symbol, our people have set aside their previous divisions and wholeheartedly embraced one another, united in a shared vision for national progress on an increasingly competitive international stage. Remarkably, the country has managed to achieve and sustain impressive economic growth.
Through targeted government programmes, the following milestones have been achieved:

Poverty has been significantly reduced in terms of income, access to social services and assets;
Over 12 million people have benefited from government’s social security assistance programme;
The number of people with access to electricity and water services has dramatically increased;
More than three million South Africans have been assisted through housing subsidies;
Almost 10 million South Africans now have a place they can call home; and
More than half of all households are headed by women.

There are, however, some significant challenges still facing our country. Progress in urban areas stands in stark contrast to the often extreme levels of poverty many South Africans in rural areas still endure. Social deprivation and underdevelopment continues to haunt too many rural areas.

For nearly half a century, the heartless apartheid regime viewed the inhabitants of black rural areas simply as labour reserves, unworthy of development efforts, whereas the post 1994 development paradigm was premised on the assumption that urban development would inevitably cascade to the rural periphery.

Consequently, for years rural South Africa saw very little development. This eventually subjected social systems and economic and infrastructural developments to enormous strain as, seeking a better future, many moved from rural areas to cities.