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The Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development today expected to receive a briefing from the National Treasury and Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) on expenditure trends and funding aimed at accelerating land delivery, including both redistribution and restitution, to meet the targets of the National Development Plan (NDP).
 
However, the committee received a letter from the Minister of Finance on 1 December 2025, referring the Portfolio Committee to the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development regarding its request for a presentation on budget and expenditure trends for land reform.
 
The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Mr Albert Mncwango, has advised that the committee will write to the Minister of Finance to emphasise the importance of an engagement between the Portfolio Committee and National Treasury concerning funding for land reform, as well as the committee’s Budget Review and Recommendations so that the government can achieve the relevant National Development Plan targets.
 
The Chairperson further mentioned that funding for land acquisition has been declining for a long time, hence the slow pace of land redistribution. 
 
The committee further heard from the FFC, who presented on expenditure trends for the former Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, which consistently achieved a high spending performance over the past financial years, exceeding 90%. The challenges facing the department over the years include capacity constraints, procurement delays (particularly ICT), slow land acquisition processes and slow implementation of farmer support programmes.
 
The FFC informed the committee that the Rural Development programme saw a significant drop in spending performance from 100 per cent in 2023/24 to 82 per cent in 2024/25, with the total underspending of R132.6 million, which is primarily due to R131.6 million under-spending under its Rural Infrastructure Development sub-programme, which undermines infrastructure development in rural areas.
 
The committee heard that the Food Security, Land Reform and Restitution programme spending performance declined in 2024/25 to 93 per cent, translating to the total underspending of R663.7 million from 100 per cent in 2023/24, mainly due to underspending of R564.3 million under its Restitution sub-programme, reflecting challenges in processing land restitution claims.
 
The committee noted a significant decline in non-financial indicators, such as the reduction in hectares allocated from 44 578 in the 2024/25 financial year to 44 000 in the 2025/26 financial year. The committee also noted that the number of land claims finalised per year has declined significantly, from 641 in 2023/24 to 389 in 2024/25. The decline continues to 271 in 2025/26. The FFC could not provide an adequate explanation for the decline, attributing it to a decline in land claims.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development, Albert Mncwango