The Land Court Bill to solve South Africa’s land reform woes is finally on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s desk. If passed, this could be a big win for restless land claimants according to deputy minister of justice and constitutional development, John Jeffrey.
In an interview with Food For Mzansi, Jeffrey expressed happiness over the passing of the Land Court Bill, which was before the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services.
The committee recently agreed to amendments proposed by the National Council of Provinces and has been sent to President Ramaphosa for assent.
Once the President has signed the bill into law, it will essentially see the new Land Court having Land Claims Court Appeals court ,which will help with the huge backlogs in pending cases.
Makapanstad’s land reform delays
Lencoe Makapan, a member of the traditional council of Bakgatlha-Ba-Mosetlha in Makapanstad near Pretoria, said the Land Court of Appeal is necessary, considering that the current judicial set-up is costly and delays agricultural activities.
Makapan said if passed, it will offload work at the land claims commission and a specialised court of appeal for land issues – a ticking bomb in the country – will be established.
“We have a land claim which was lodged in 1998 and it has been a headache trying to resolve our land issue which has resulted in us not being able to fully use the land.
“The claim lodged is for 41 farms which are about 40 000 hectares of land both in Makapanstad in North West and Limpopo. Part of the delay and our problem has been our claims being split into provincial commissioners who were not there during the initial claim,” he said.
Makapan said with the splitting, 21 farms now fall under the North West land claims commission while the rest are under Limpopo.
The problem started when the land commission said all 20 farms in Limpopo between Thabazimbi and Bela Bela, which they have lodged a claim on, did not belong to them.
Costly land court battles
Makapan said they have plans to farm on those plots and make a living for themselves. However, instead of working the land, they have been embroiled in court battles trying to reclaim their land.
“In the Limpopo farms, the land claims commission has told us that those 20 farms do not belong to us. We have been trying to review the decision that was given to us in 2018 after an investigation was done in 2013.
“The commission did offer us an opportunity to review its decision which should be done in court however it has been back and forth, and courts are expensive,” he said.
With the court battle dragging on forever, court battle expenses have piled up. Meanwhile, the land remains unused at a time when community members, especially youth, could be farming and creating jobs.
Agbiz says yes
The Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa (Agbiz) has publicly given its support to the bill. In a previous article, Annelize Crosby, the head of legal intelligence at Agbiz said her organisation had a substantial interest in the success of the Land Court.
This will form an integral part of the institutional framework required to drive land reform in South Africa.
“A successful land reform programme is seen as a prerequisite for sustainability in the sector as well as a potential driver of growth as it facilitates the entry of new participants into the primary sector.
“Access to justice is a vital component of land reform. The High-Level Panel on the Assessment of Key Legislation has highlighted the limited capacity of the Land Claims Court as a bottleneck in the land restitution process in particular,” said Crosby.
Progress on land claims
Meanwhile, the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights said progress has been made on settling land claims from 1995 to 31 March 2023.
According to the chief commissioner, Nomfundo Ntloko-Gobodo, a total of 82 976 claims in all provinces have been settled.
“This cost is R53 billion in total, of which financial compensation costs R22 billion, the acquisition of land costs R25 billion and grants R5 billion. The commission has settled over 3.8 million hectares to the benefit of 2.3 million beneficiaries, including 175 000 female-headed households and 1 246 people living with disabilities,” she said.
According to Ntloko-Gobodo, 59 712 claims were finalised across all provinces from 1995 to 31 March 2013.
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