This chapter views land reform in South Africa through an ethnographic lens. It addresses two general but fundamental questions: what is happening on land reform farms, and how do different actors develop strategies to make sense of land reform policies? The chapter provides an account of the everyday life experiences and ideas of those actors who are directly involved with land reform. An essential requirement of an ethnographic study of land reform is that it should not begin with preconceived ideas. A consideration of the views and experiences of those involved is the key ingredient of an open-minded approach to the study of social life on land reform farms. Anyone who has been engaged in ethnographic research of this sort soon realises where the challenges lie. The researcher cannot fully disconnect him/herself from the views expressed in the public, academic and media domains. Preconceived views have to be continually revised as more data is collected and new questions arise. Another difficulty is that land reform has different meanings for different beneficiaries. There is no single answer to the question about how land reform has reshaped people's lives. It soon becomes apparent that the nature of the interactions between key actors has important empirical and analytical consequences. These largely shape people's interpretation of land reform, which, in turn, colours their everyday life experiences.

This chapter focuses on the interactions between land reform beneficiaries and extension officials on two land reform farms in the Northern Cape province. The analysis of the Mighty and Wales land reform projects builds on the idea that land reform is often a conflictive and ambiguous process (Hebinck 2008; Moyo and Hall 2007). Its complexities can only be understood if beneficiaries are not seen as a homogeneous group. One of the tasks of this chapter, therefore, is to deconstruct the category ‘beneficiary’. The other actors who are involved in land reform – extension officials, policymakers and the politicians who have pushed the land and agrarian reform agenda in South Africa – cannot be seen as belonging to homogeneous groups either.