These are the women and men tasked with advising Ramaphosa on land reform

President Cyril Ramaphosa's 10-member advisory panel will see the likes of professor Ruth Hall and advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi coming together to support the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Land Reform.

In a statement on Friday‚ the presidency announced Ramaphosa's crack team of agricultural and legal experts who will advise the IMC‚ which is chaired by deputy president David Mabuza‚ on a broad range of policy matters associated with land reform.

The panel will be chaired by social entrepreneur and public policy and development planning specialist Dr Vuyokazi Mahlati‚ who is serving her second term as a member of the National Planning Commission. Mahlati is also president of the African Farmers Association of South Africa (Afasa).

"The panel is expected to provide perspectives on land policy in the context of persisting land inequality‚ unsatisfactory land and agrarian reform and uneven urban land development. The panel is mandated to review‚ research and suggest models for government to implement a fair and equitable land reform process that redresses the injustices of the past‚ increases agricultural output‚ promotes economic growth and protects food security‚" the presidency said.

Members of the panel are:

• Professor Ruth Hall: a researcher and professor at the University of the Western Cape’s Institute for Poverty‚ Land and Agrarian Studies;
• Professor Mohammed Karaan: a professor in Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch University;
• Advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi: a lawyer‚ public speaker and author;
• Bulelwa Mabasa: an admitted attorney with experience in matters of land restitution and reform;
• Thandi Ngcobo: CEO and founder of the Dr J L Dube Institute of the University of KwaZulu-Natal;
• Wandile Sihlobo: head of research at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa and is an independent agricultural economic advisor to Afgrain Food Group;
• Daniel Kriek: president of AgriSA;
• Thato Moagi: an emerging farmer and entrepreneur; and
• Nick Serfontein: chairman of the Sernick Group and 2016 Free State Farmer of the Year.

“Although the members of the panel are drawn from very different backgrounds‚ with different areas of expertise and perspectives‚ they are united by a shared vision of a just and equitable future for all South Africans‚” Ramaphosa said in the statement.