REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMBINED SECOND PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE`S RIGHTS and INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA 235. To achieve its vision, the new department defined its role and mission as being that of facilitating integrated development and social cohesion through partnerships with all sectors of society. The most important strategy the department pursues to deliver on the CRDP’s strategic objectives is, Agrarian Transformation. 236. Rural Development consists of three pillars, namely, meeting basic human needs, rural enterprise development, and rural industrialisation, supported by rural markets and credit facilities. Land Reform has four pillars, namely the restitution of land rights, redistribution, tenure reform, and development. The Green Paper on Land Reform defines three principles underlying land reform, namely deracialising the rural economy; the democratic and equitable allocation and utilisation of land across race, class and gender; and sustained production discipline. 237. The land restitution process is managed by a number of statutes.150 By the end of 2012, 76 229 out of 79 696 claims received since 1994 had been settled. In 2012/13, a further 376 land claims were finalised, where payment and transfer of land was made to beneficiaries, while 602 land claims were settled through approvals. The Department had begun an extensive consultation process on the amendment of the Restitution of Land Rights Act, 1994. In 2012/13 the main focus of the Department was on acquiring strategically located land and allocating it accordingly. In pursuit of this aim, a total of 243 farms totalling 157 556 hectares of land were acquired. A total of 200 farms were placed under the Recapitalisation and Development Programme during the year. The Land Reform Programme has been a significant contributor to job creation, and a total of 1059 jobs were created in the land reform projects. Farmer support in the form of training provision also marked the achievements recorded. A total of 421 farmers were trained. 238. Some of the realities associated with the complex land issue in South Africa are that the process of acquiring and distributing a particular piece of land is often lengthy, and this escalates the cost of redistribution because the former owner stops investing in the land, this means that many of the farms are therefore in a poor state of repair at the point of acquisition. This led to the adoption, in November 2010, of a recapitalisation programme aimed at increasing food production and job creation through the commercialisation of small farmers. The focus of rehabilitation has been on rebuilding infrastructure, and there is a risk that, without adequate farmer support and development, the farms could again decline in future. Eleven thousand new smallholders have been established since 2009. Support has been provided to both new and long-established farmers through many programmes including Letsema, the Recapitalization and Development Programme and through the funding agency MAFISA. 150 For example, the Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights, 1991 (Act No. 112 of 1991), the Restitution of Land Rights, 1994 (Act No. 22 of 1994), the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act, 1996 (Act No. 3 of 1996), and the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 1997 (Act No. 62 of 1997). 69