Land ownership, access, and the productive use of land remain fundamental to the fulfilment of human rights.

Peter Setou, CEO of the Vumelana Advisory Fund, said the right to land extends beyond ownership as it includes the ability to productively utilise land to improve the livelihoods of people.

He said a key challenge in the land reform process has been the underutilisation of restituted land.

“To prevent land from lying fallow, thorough assessments must be conducted before land claims are finalised. Plans for land use and community support should be in place before transfer occurs, to ensure the long-term viability and sustainable use of the land,” Setou said.

With Human Rights Day being commemorated in South Africa on Friday, during Human Rights Month, Vumelana, a non-profit organisation that was established over a decade ago to help communities in the land reform programme to put their land to productive use, said the enactment of the Expropriation Bill into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa earlier this year has pushed land reform into the centre of public discourse.

The organisation said the new Expropriation Act replaces the apartheid-era Expropriation Act of 1975 and outlines the legal framework for the government to expropriate private property for public purposes or in the public interest, setting rules for how compensation should be determined.

While the act generally mandates fair compensation, it also allows for certain cases in which no compensation may be paid, provided it is deemed just and reasonable.

Setou noted, “While there is consensus on the need to undertake a land reform programme to rectify the racially skewed land ownership patterns resulting from centuries of colonialism and decades of apartheid, there is a sharp divergence of opinion on the appropriate approach to land reform.

"Of importance is to ensure that the land reform process does not further compromise human rights, but that it reinforces and restores dignity.”

He said the constitutionality of the Expropriation Act, in particular the provisions dealing with expropriation with nil compensation, is yet to pass constitutional muster in the country’s courts after several parties vowed to institute litigation.

“Thousands of communities who have been forcibly removed from their ancestral land are still waiting for restorative justice as their land claims have yet to be settled, while many property owners fear that the operationalisation of the Expropriation Act - in particular the provision of nil compensation - will trample upon their rights to property.

"There is therefore a need to strike a delicate balance between the aspirations and hopes of the indigenous communities that are waiting for their claims to be settled and the fears of property owners who are anxious about possible arbitrary expropriation.”

According to Vumelana, the ability to access, own, and productively use land is central to efforts to restore dignity, and security, and drive social and economic development.

It said as South Africa moves forward with land reform, it is crucial to ensure that policies and implementation strategies uphold human rights, drive inclusive economic participation, and promote the development of communities across the country, to improve the livelihoods of people across communities.

“Land reform remains an essential element for the realisation of many human rights. In recognition of the fundamental role that land ownership plays in driving sustainable economic growth, Setou notes that the United Nations has included land in the eight targets and 12 indicators of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Setou said, therefore, that strengthening land tenure rights, particularly for those living on communal land is essential for ensuring that local communities play a central role in land reform decision-making.

“Secure land tenure will not only empower individuals by allowing them to use land as collateral but also attract private-sector partnerships to enable communities to participate in local economic development,” Setou said.

Meanwhile, hospitality and tourism can play a major role in empowering marginal communities.

Azola Konjwa, a lecturer at the IIE School of Hospitality & Service Management, a centre of service education excellence with campuses in Johannesburg and Cape Town says human rights underpins everything that the hospitality does; from the way guests and staff are treated, to the way the operation fits in within the community it is situated.

“The future of the hospitality industry is also about employing people who are taught about sustainability at hospitality schools,” Konjwa said.

According to the World Sustainable Hospitality Alliance, some key human rights issues which hotels and those working in hospitality should examine include the right to work, labour conditions, land rights and forced displacement, forced labour, the right to water and sanitation, the right to life and health, the right to dignity and privacy, economic and cultural impacts, child labour and the right to participate.

The hospitality industry also has to focus on accessibility and inclusion. Hotels, restaurants, and other establishments must ensure they are accessible to people with disabilities.

This includes wheelchair ramps, accessible bathrooms and other physical accommodations, as well as staff training on how to serve people with disabilities.

The sector must also boast environments that are welcoming to people of all backgrounds, including LGBTQIA+ individuals, people of colour and marginalised groups.

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The importance of land reform in upholding human rights in South Africa