Tenure security has major implications for economic development in the former homelands of South
Africa. Many of the areas referred to as ‘communal’ were deliberately created to further colonial
policies. They were intended to serve as reservoirs for cheap migratory labour. People were forcibly
moved to the ‘bantustans’ without reference to the wishes of the established inhabitants. There is a
legacy of severe land pressure and land-related conflict, unsurpassed elsewhere in southern Africa. The
area involved is shown on the accompanying map (Figure 2). About 2.4 million rural households or
about 12.7 million people, 32% of the total population, are concentrated in about 13% of the country.
Provinces with large rural populations in former homelands (Eastern Cape, KwaZulu Natal and
Northern Province) have the highest level of poverty in the country (Box 1)