The minister has political responsibility for the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development.

The incumbent minister is Mzwanele Nyhontso, who is the first opposition politician to hold the office; he was appointed on 30 June 2024.

[2] When President Jacob Zuma announced his first cabinet on 10 May 2009, he reversed Mandela's merger.

The agriculture portfolio was conjoined with forestry and fisheries under the minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and the independent land affairs portfolio was re-launched as the Ministry of Rural Development and Land Reform.

[3] The name change reflected an overt focus on rural development and land reform in South Africa, which Zuma counted among his policy priorities.