South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is pushing to expand Black ownership of commercial farmland, with the government releasing approximately 2.5 million hectares of state-owned land to Black farmers as the country’s land reform policies remain a source of tension with US President Donald Trump.
- President Cyril Ramaphosa is releasing about 2.5 million hectares of state-owned land to Black farmers to address racial disparities in South African agriculture.
- The land will be transferred with title deeds under the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy to increase Black commercial farming participation.
- This move comes amid international criticism, particularly from US President Trump.
- The signing of the Expropriation Act in January 2025 allows for property expropriation under specific circumstances.
In his weekly newsletter published on Monday, October 12, Ramaphosa said the land would be transferred with title deeds under the government’s Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, aimed at bringing more farmers into commercial agriculture and addressing racial inequalities that persist more than three decades after apartheid ended.
“Through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy, we are releasing approximately 2.5 million hectares of state-owned land in various parts of the country to black farmers and providing them with title deeds,” Ramaphosa wrote.
The announcement comes amid an international dispute over South Africa’s land policies. Trump has criticised the country’s approach to land reform, alleging that white landowners are being treated unfairly. Ramaphosa’s government has rejected claims that it is confiscating land from white South Africans.
The dispute escalated in February 2025 after Ramaphosa signed South Africa’s Expropriation Act, prompting Trump to threaten cuts to US funding over land reform.
The two leaders clashed publicly at the White House in May 2025 over allegations of land seizures and the treatment of white South Africans.
The law however, does not mean that all privately owned land can be seized without compensation.
Addressing South Africa’s two agricultures
Ramaphosa’s newsletter frames the land release as part of a broader effort to transform a sector in which ownership and commercial production remain racially unequal.
“We still have what has been called ‘two agricultures’,” he wrote, noting that predominantly white-owned commercial farms account for most of the country’s agricultural output, while Black farmers account for around 10%.
Reuters reported in February 2025 that white South Africans owned about 75% of privately held land, while Black South Africans owned approximately 4%, illustrating the disparities that continue to shape the debate.
Ramaphosa also highlighted the financing barriers facing emerging farmers, citing Redlands Farm, a commercial dairy operation run by young Black farmers in Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape. The farm has expanded with support from the Land Bank’s Blended Finance Scheme, which combines government grants with loans.
“Far too often, emerging farmers are kept trapped at subsistence level because they cannot get the financing they need for farming inputs, infrastructure and additional land,” he wrote.
South Africa’s agricultural exports reached a record R270 billion in 2025, according to the president, with nearly half of farm exports going to other African countries.
Ramaphosa argued that expanding land access must go hand in hand with affordable financing, mentorship and training to ensure new farmers can operate at commercial scale.