This article was first published by Daily Friend on 2 August 2026
Tenure reform is an important yet often underappreciated pillar of land reform in South Africa, where debates about land are overwhelmingly centred on myths that are used to justify depriving disfavoured communities of the right to private property.
It is regarded by some as a distraction at best and a meaningless exercise at worst in a country where much of the productive farmland is supposedly owned by disfavoured communities that must be dispossessed of it. This line of reasoning betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of South Africa’s political history and the broader purpose of land reform in the post-1994 constitutional era.
The evil of Apartheid was not simply that it dispossessed black South Africans of their property through laws such as the infamous Group Areas Act. Its deeper injustice was that it also denied them the right to own property formally, reducing them to tenants on land they could never truly call their own.
In doing so, it deprived them not only of the dignity that comes with ownership but also of one of the most important means of building generational wealth.
This history explains why land reform cannot be reduced to transferring land ownership and why expanding secure and formal ownership of property is equally important.
Khaya Lam project
With this in mind, the Free Market Foundation (FMF), in line with its long-standing commitment to the principle of private property, launched its flagship Khaya Lam land reform project in 2010 to advance tenure reform by making the dream of private property ownership a reality for many disadvantaged South Africans.
Khaya Lam – which means “My Home” in isiZulu – is centred on strengthening freehold titling on municipal properties across the country. It works closely with municipalities, conveyancers, and private sponsors to transfer formal ownership, in the form of title deeds, to municipal residents. Because private sponsors fund each transfer, which costs R3,750, the process comes at no cost to the municipal resident.
Since its inception, Khaya Lam has helped transfer more than 21,000 municipal properties to residents across the country, reviving roughly R3.15 billion in “dead capital”. A homeowner with secure, formal ownership can lease, sell, or improve their property. They can also use it as collateral to finance a new business venture, thereby injecting liquidity into the property market.
Beyond these economic benefits, formal ownership also restores the dignity that comes with having a place to call one’s own. This idea is perhaps best encapsulated in the words of the late Nelson Mandela, who once remarked: “A man (read person) is not a man until he has a house of his own.”
Supporting property ownership
Notably, Johann Rupert made a significant donation to Khaya Lam in 2019, enabling the project to undertake many of the title deed transfers completed since then. More recently, he recapitalised the project, helping to ensure that thousands more disadvantaged South Africans can realise the dream of secure, formal property ownership.
The FMF is particularly indebted to Rupert for this, as well as to the various financial institutions, private companies, charitable foundations, and ordinary South Africans who share its commitment to private property and have supported – and continue to support – Khaya Lam’s work. Their support is a reminder that meaningful land reform is not the exclusive preserve of the state. It can also be realised through private partnerships that expand secure property ownership.
All donations made to Khaya Lam are strictly ringfenced for the project and are independently audited to ensure full accountability. With the continued support of its donors, the FMF will continue advancing the cause of land reform through tenure reform – an important yet often underappreciated pillar of South Africa’s land reform policy agenda.
