Ramaphosa releases 2.5 million hectares of state land to black farmers with title deeds

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 United States President Donald Trump.

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," he wrote.

The president framed the release around what he described as "two agricultures," 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%.

The announcement comes amid an international dispute over South Africa's land policies. Trump has criticised the country's approach, alleging that white landowners are being treated unfairly, while Ramaphosa's government has rejected claims that it is confiscating land from white South Africans. The dispute escalated in February 2025 after Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Act, prompting Trump to threaten cuts to US funding; the two leaders clashed publicly at the White House in May 2025 over allegations of land seizures. The law does not mean all privately owned land can be seized without compensation.

Ramaphosa also highlighted financing barriers facing emerging farmers, citing Redlands Farm, a commercial dairy operation run by young black farmers in Stutterheim in the Eastern Cape that 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. He said South Africa's agricultural exports reached a record R270 billion in 2025, with nearly half of farm exports going to other African countries, and argued that expanding land access must go hand in hand with affordable financing, mentorship and training.