Written from a conflict management perspective, this article examines how the lack of progress on land reform in the new South Africa has placed the entire national reconciliation project, social cohesion and nation-building in jeopardy. In the twenty four years since the advent of South Africa's democracy, the question of the land, largely overlooked in the 1994 settlement, remains front and centre in the country's body politic. The extreme inequality in land persists, despite government policies in respect of land reform and restitution. Internationally, the potential of conflicts over land to descend into civil war has long been cautioned against. The aim of this article is to provide a conflict management mechanism to facilitate a more effective land reform programme. The article provides an overview of the history of the land question to illustrate the complexities and salient issues of land reform in postapartheid South