Pretoria – AfriForum says it has debunked the “myth regarding 72% white ownership of land” during a conference on property rights.
At the conference, held in Pretoria earlier today, Wednesday, 24 June 2026, AfriForum said “various misperceptions and lies about land ownership, land reform and expropriation without compensation” were examined.
“The findings presented at this conference will form an important part of both the domestic and international component of AfriForum’s ongoing fight to protect private property rights,” AfriForum said in a statement made available to The Bulrushes.
According to the organisation, various allegations in South Africa’s controversial and emotional debate about land are presented as facts without proper investigation into their accuracy.
AfriForum said it presented a fact sheet during the conference that challenges these myths about land ownership.
The conference was attended, among others, by representatives from the American embassy as well as the embassy of the Netherlands.
The first speaker was Ernst van Zyl, Head of Public Relations at AfriForum, who argued against the “most popular myths” about land in South Africa.
Van Zyl further stated that the 2017 Land Audit, which is still cited in important land debates and policy decisions, was “deeply flawed”.
He said the South African government has failed in regard to land reform projects and proposed alternative solutions.
According to Van Zyl, the continued citation of the 2017 Land Audit’s statistics in 2026 and beyond was unintentionally misleading at best and deeply dishonest at worst.
“The claim that whites ‘control 72% of the land’ is disinformation, in the original and true sense of the word.”
“The issue of land remains complex and multi-dimensional,” Van Zyl concludes.
“It is in the interest of honest public debate, sound policymaking, and improved race relations that AfriForum calls for a more balanced, evidence-based, and less racialised discourse surrounding land and property rights in South Africa.
“We thank everyone who is standing with us in this important fight.”
Burgert Gildenhuys, an expert in municipal planning, spatial, economic development, and local government finances, said the “government’s attempts at racialised land ownership calculations” have been “flawed”.
Finally, Dr. Theo de Jager, Chairperson of the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai), provided a farmer’s perspective on threats to private property rights in South Africa.
The three speakers sat down for a panel discussion, led by AfriForum’s Louis Boshoff, where the themes of their presentations were connected.
Since 1994, South Africa’s land reform has aimed to redress apartheid-era dispossession through three pillars—restitution, redistribution, and tenure reform—but progress has been slow.
By 2024, less than 14% of agricultural land had been transferred to black South Africans, far short of the 30% target.
Weak institutional capacity, insecure tenure, and limited post-settlement support remain major obstacles.
The government is conducting a new Comprehensive Land Audit to provide more precise data.
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