The Recapitalisation and Development Programme (RADP) was supposed to rescue land reform. Instead, it became the final stage in a chain of corruption that stripped farms bare and abandoned their workers.

The Programme

Introduced in 2009, RADP was designed to provide post-settlement support to struggling land reform farms. The government would pair farm beneficiaries with "strategic partners" — experienced farmers or agribusiness operators — who would provide expertise, mentorship, and operational management. R3.4 billion was allocated.

The Capture

In practice, the strategic partner model was captured from the start. An academic study in the Journal of Southern African Studies documented elite capture in detail:

  • Strategic partners saw the programme merely as a conduit to access government funding
  • Partners inflated prices on every item purchased — inputs, equipment, services — pocketing the margins
  • State officials and agribusiness partners stripped farms of machines and implements
  • Recapitalisation funds were siphoned through various mechanisms
  • No clarity existed on selection criteria for beneficiaries, resulting in inclusion of undeserving recipients

The Devastating Outcomes

DALRRD itself conceded at a parliamentary briefing that RADP "did not have a significant impact on productivity." The numbers confirmed this:

  • 397 of 529 supported farms (75%) remained subsistence-level or entirely unproductive
  • Crop production decreased by 79% on average
  • More than half of beneficiaries reported no substantial production
  • The same percentage had low capacity to achieve commercial status

The Human Cost

Farmworkers were left vulnerable to what Corruption Watch described as "fly-by-night crony capitalists and corrupt state bureaucrats" who captured production support, stripped farm assets, and abandoned farms. The intended beneficiaries of land reform — historically disadvantaged communities — bore the brunt.

Beneficiaries who managed to farm successfully were, in some cases, allegedly replaced by politically connected cadres. The system rewarded connections, not competence.

Programme Discontinued

RADP was stopped in 2019 and replaced. The AG identified R580 million in unreconciled RADP disbursements through the Agricultural Land Holding Account — money spent with no clear record of what it achieved.