In October 2000, the community of Cata and government signed a precedent-setting Restitution Settlement Agreement pertaining to land rights lost through the implementation of betterment. In terms of the agreement, half of the value of dispossessed rights was paid to the individual families affected and the other half was set aside for development. The development process has been administered by the Amatole District Municipality since mid-2001.

For the next two years, the community and various stakeholders participated in an integrated planning process. The plan was finalised in August 2003. The plan is broad-ranging and ambitious, covering the following sectors, amongst others: infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, local economic development, settlement planning and formalisation, and land transfer.

Since late 2003, the focus has been placed squarely on implementation. Three projects have been completed. These are the building of a multi-purpose community hall, the construction of new classrooms and refurbishment of existing buildings at the primary school, and the conversion of a 70ha wattle jungle into a managed plantation). By the second half of 2005, implementation had commenced in the following projects: upgrading of the irrigation works, promotion of homestead agriculture, upgrading of internal roads, establishment of heritage museum and the construction of chalets.

In the light of this progress, BRC undertook a mid-term community assessment of the development process. Some of the findings were as follows:

• Over two-thirds of the community believes that the interventions pertaining to the hall, classrooms, roads and homestead agriculture have been ‘beneficial’ or ‘very beneficial’.
• So far, the development process has created employment opportunities for 15% of community members.
• 22% of community members believe that the development process has improved their economic situation, and 39% believe that it has improved their quality of life.
• The institution most closely associated with the development process is the CPA.
• 81% of the community members are happy with the development process and 64% believe that it has been carried out in a democratic manner.