South Africa’s land reform program is a cornerstone of efforts to redress historical injustices, guided by the 1997 White Paper on Land Reform Policy and structured around restitution, redistribution, and tenure reform. Three decades into implementation, this study systematically reviews the policy performance from 1994 to 2024, focusing on these pillars and related governance measures. Despite repeated policy revisions and extensive public debate, significant gaps persist between objectives, such as equitable access, tenure security, and poverty reduction—and actual outcomes. Using PRISMA guidelines, 94 peer-reviewed articles were selected from Scopus (1994–2024) alongside key policy documents and official reports. Evidence shows that land reform has consistently fallen short of its targets. Restitution claims remain largely cash-based, undermining tenure security, while redistribution has transferred less than 14% of agricultural land, far below the 30% target. Beneficiaries under the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) often hold insecure lease agreements, and most households in former homelands lack title deeds, perpetuating vulnerability. The weak institutional capacity, poor coordination, and inadequate post-settlement support further constrain progress. The review concludes that the most fundamental policy priority is establishing a unified national framework that guarantees secure land tenure through the issuance of title deeds, complemented by integrated post-settlement support and transparent beneficiary selection. Strengthening tenure security is essential for enabling investment, improving livelihoods, and achieving equitable and sustainable land reform.

Various institutions have offered a range of training to smallholder farmers. These trainings have been geared towards improving farming skills to improve yields and management of their farms. However, despite the training, smallholder farmers are reported to produce below the potential of their farms. Such information is paramount to enable the creation and design of effective capacity-building interventions. A skills audit was carried out on 179 smallholder farmers to evaluate socio-economic factors that drive the existing skills of smallholder farmers in the North West province. The North West province was purposively chosen because it had the highest percentage of beneficiaries from state land allocation projects, accounting for 65% of the total. Chi-square tests and discriminant analysis were performed to analyse data. Research findings revealed that 2% of the farmers rated their planting and crop maintenance proficiency above average. Few (39.3%) farmers indicated average to excellent animal reproduction and health care skills. Gender, tertiary education, age, and fluency in speaking English and Afrikaans were socio-economic factors that drove farmers’ choice of skills. It is recommended that a comprehensive training plan for each allocated farm be developed for viable and thriving enterprises geared towards building sustainable, inclusive, resilient agri-food systems, including technical support, mentorship, and coaching. Participation of youth in training and offering training in languages that farmers can speak fluently is recommended.