Land Expropriation without Compensation : The Challenges of Black South African Women in Land Ownership

South African Black women relied on the land for the generation of livelihood. However, since 1994, the number of Black women who own land is lower than men. It is undeniable that the shortage of land among Black women is a true reflection of ineffective land reform policies (Land redistribution, restitution and tenure). This land reform is criticised for pushing the Willing Buyer Willing Seller policy, which is considered as a capitalist system that supports private ownership (majority are Whites ). As a result, Land Expropriation without Compensation (LEWC) was introduced to nationalize South African land, to address racial inequality and also gender inequality in land ownership. Therefore, the present study aims to examine if the LEWC will help in addressing gender differences in land ownership. The paper depends on secondary sources as a means of gathering relevant and necessary data. It is also used strict textual analysis of the existing literature. The findings show that, just like other policies of the land reform, the LEWC might fail to address the challenges of land faced by Black women in South Africa because of some existing elements of customary law. The present study recommends that the proposed policy should also consider women while redistributing the land.