South Africa's land restitution programme is in deep trouble, with farms not changing hands and farmers and claimants battling to extract payouts from the state.
Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti has warned of land grabs because of the delays.
Effectively raising the spectre of what has happened in Zimbabwe, Nkwinti said delays could jeopardise projects, and "farm invasions could take place where beneficiaries cannot occupy farms" because of delays in transfers.
The cash-strapped department says it is battling to conclude all sales agreements with farmers - while a R268 million deposit is sitting in lawyers' accounts.
The Legal Resources Centre, which has represented farmers and claimants in the land claims court, has accused the department of undermining the government's land restitution programmes by failing to honour sales agreements.
But the department said it needed more than R7 billion to conclude all sales.
According to Gugile Nkwinti, R267 992 825 in separate deposits, amounting to 50 percent of sale agreements for each land unit, was in conveyancers' trust accounts for farmers because the department could not pay the remainder.
Nkwinti also revealed that his department also owed almost R1bn in post-settlement grants to beneficiaries of land.
Henk Smith, a lawyer with the Legal Resources Centre, said lawyers had had to force the department to honour the payments.
"We find it astounding that we have to run up to the courts to force the department to pay. Some of these agreements also have court judgments that the department should pay, but it is difficult to get the money," Smith said.
He said attempts to attach state property proved fruitless.
"We represent poor communities that have claimed land under the land restitution and redistribution programme. But a number of these purchases are not finalised, and it is a frustration. We are struggling to get the courts to enforce sales agreements and payments," he said.
He warned that delays in settling the agreements could result in farmers and claimants not respecting government land initiatives.
"Every year the department promises to pay at the end of the financial year, but nothing happens when it ends in April. One would have thought that they would budget for this before making promises."
Smith said farmers were struggling to look after their farms and infrastructure while the deals were yet to be finalised.
"The delays also frustrate the transfer of farms to claimants. Farms are also left unproductive because the owners are waiting for payments. The department doesn't instil confidence in land reform and it is giving the programme a bad name."
However, the department's director-general, Thozi Gwanya, said the department intended honouring the agreements as soon as it had completed prioritising its budget.
But Gwanya said the department considered most of the agreements invalid because they were not signed off by the minister or senior delegated officials.
"Where there's a signed agreement there's no need to go to court. But most of these agreements were simply agreements between farmers and junior officials. Any agreement needs the approval of the land commissioner in that province, or the minister or the official delegated by the minister," said Gwanya.
However, in April, the KwaZulu-Natal Land Claims Court ordered the department to pay four farmers R21m they were claiming for their three pieces of land after the department refused to pay, arguing that the agreements were not binding because they had been made verbally.
Gwanya said the department had also refused to pay the remainder of the agreements until the land and property were re-evaluated.
"Some of the land and property have been vandalised during the sales process, and we have to ensure it is valued at the same price before making payment. If the property has been vandalised, we need to factor that in as well."