Land and the Just Transition: A guide for local government

The document argues that land is a strategic public resource central to South Africa's just transition, rather than merely a financial asset. It outlines how municipalities can use spatial planning, inclusive governance, and tenure protection to balance the land-intensive needs of renewable energy and climate adaptation with the need to redress historical spatial inequalities. The guide identifies significant municipal constraints, including dire finances, lack of consolidated land information, and complex overlaps with traditional authorities, while offering a roadmap for advancing distributive, restorative, and procedural justice through land administration.

• Land is a critical but often marginalised component of the just transition in South Africa, serving as both the site for low-carbon investments (such as wind, solar, and biomass) and a tool for social and spatial transformation.
• A just transition on land must be underpinned by three pillars of justice: distributive justice (fair sharing of risks and benefits), restorative justice (redressing historical harms and spatial apartheid), and procedural justice (inclusive, transparent decision-making).
• South Africa's dual land tenure system—comprising formal registered rights and 'off-register' rights (such as customary tenure)—creates significant risks for vulnerable groups during the transition, as those without secure tenure are more susceptible to dispossession and exclusion from climate benefits.
• Municipalities face severe structural and financial barriers to managing the transition, including a total debt to Eskom of R78 billion as of 2024, a lack of consolidated land information systems, and limited authority over land owned by state-owned enterprises or traditional authorities.
• The 'wall-to-wall' planning authority of municipalities often conflicts with the land allocation practices of traditional authorities, requiring delicate negotiation and the prioritisation of customary land rights to avoid conflict.
• Effective 'land unlocking' for the transition requires moving beyond market-based valuations to include social and environmental criteria, particularly when repurposing degraded mining land or managing 'island settlements' created by industrial investments.
• To ensure procedural justice, municipalities should adopt the standard of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC), which grants impacted communities the right to say no to projects without threat of retaliation.

APA

Jacobs, N., Paradza, G., Sher, D., Wallis, L., & Futwa, Z. (2026). Land and the Just Transition: A guide for local government. Public Affairs Research Institute. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260429_LandAndTheJustTransitionGUIDE_PARI_IIED_SALGA.pdf

Chicago

Jacobs, Nathaniah, Gaynor Paradza, Daniel Sher, Lara Wallis, and Zanoxolo Futwa. Land and the Just Transition: A guide for local government. Public Affairs Research Institute, 2026. https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260429_LandAndTheJustTransitionGUIDE_PARI_IIED_SALGA.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Jacobs |first1=Nathaniah |last2=Paradza |first2=Gaynor |last3=Sher |first3=Daniel |last4=Wallis |first4=Lara |last5=Futwa |first5=Zanoxolo |title=Land and the Just Transition: A guide for local government |publisher=Public Affairs Research Institute |date=April 2026 |url=https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260429_LandAndTheJustTransitionGUIDE_PARI_IIED_SALGA.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{jacobs2026land, author = {Jacobs, Nathaniah and Paradza, Gaynor and Sher, Daniel and Wallis, Lara and Futwa, Zanoxolo}, title = {{Land and the Just Transition: A guide for local government}}, institution = {Public Affairs Research Institute}, year = {2026}, month = apr, url = {https://pari.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/20260429_LandAndTheJustTransitionGUIDE_PARI_IIED_SALGA.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }