Human needs, land reform and the South African constitution

This paper argues that the poor delivery on land reform in post-apartheid South Africa is best explained through a close analysis of the form and content of the constitution of 1996. Within this progressive legal document lies the possibility for radical land reform but also that which currently hamstrings the process. The South African constitution is self-defeating with regard to land reform because it conceives of the goals and means of land reform in the same conceptual language as is currently used to secure the private ownership of land-the language of inalienable rights. The article explains how and why this hinders the process of land reform and shows why rights-based constitutions in general are self-defeating. It ends by suggesting in outline the framework for a new conceptual language for politics and for constitutions based on a conception of human needs and an alternative (needs-based) constitution.