This article undertakes a comparative analysis of the South African labour tenancy contract and the Malawian tenant worker’s contract in the context of the land law reform programme instituted in both countries. Historically, both contracts represent mechanisms for access to otherwise inaccessible land. They have been devoid of proprietary rights and secure tenure. However, South Africa, through its land reform programme, has adopted a robust approach towards the infusion of proprietary rights and secure tenure into the labour tenancy contract. The South African approach adjusts ‘the relative positions’ of the farmland owner and the labour tenant, as it moves away from a permits- or personal-rights-based approach to a proprietary, in rem (real) rights approach to land access. Malawi’s land reform programme does not include similar provisions for the tenant worker’s contract. Malawi’s land law reform must undertake similar corrective and appropriate action.