Land claims 'to be settled by 2005'
27 November 2003
A combined total of 476 783 hectares of land has been handed back to claimants through the government's land restitution and redistribution programme, putting the department of land affairs well on its way to meeting its target of settling all outstanding claims by 2005.
The land restitution programme aims to restore land rights lost as a result of apartheid's discriminatory laws, while the redistribution programme aims to provide the previously disadvantaged and the poor with access to land for residential and productive purposes.
Land Affairs Director-General Gilingwe Mayende, presenting the department's annual progress report and plans for 2004, said 42 556 restitution claims involving 102 454 households had been settled between 1995 and 30 September this year. Taking the restitution programme alone, approximately 282 569 hectares of land had been restored at a total cost of about R809-million.
According to Mayende, the restitution
and land reform programmes account for approximately 79% of the department's total annual spending.
Emerging farmers have also received considerable support through a development component of the land redistribution programme aimed at helping emerging farmers break into the mainstream agricultural economy.
"Since its inception in August 2001, the programme has grown in leaps and bounds, resulting in black emerging farmers becoming meaningful and successful players in the economy," Mayende said.
The deparment's plans for 2004 include the implementation of the Communal Land Rights Bill, which will for the first time grant tenure security to millions of South Africans living in rural communal areas.
Focus on rural claims
Chief Land Claims Commissioner Tozi Gwanya, presenting the Commission on the Restitution of Land Rights' annual report to Parliament in August, said the commission has focused this year on settling rural land
claims, which constitute 20% of all claims.
"Rural claims pose a particular challenge to the commission because of the high illiteracy rate among rural communities and the claimants' lack of documentation supporting the claims", Gwanya said, adding that most land in the country's former homelands was unregistered and unsurveyed, caused added difficulties for the commission.
"Issues such as getting identity documents, death and marriage certificates, and affidavits take up a lot of the commission's time. Family disputes over who is entitled to lodge a claim also prolong the period taken in dealing with each of the claims", he said.
Gwanya added that a rural claim, such as Mbila at Umkhanyakude in KwaZulu-Natal, counted as one claim on the database even though more than 1 000 households were involved, covering 43 000 hectares.
He urged other provinces to follow the example of the Limpopo government, which set aside R8-million in its 2003/04 agriculture budget
for post-settlement support and mentoring programmes for resettled communities, including providing bursaries for young people from resettled communities to study farming at tertiary institutions.
The government's commitment to the land restitution programme was evident in the R854 914-million that was allocated for the 2003/2004 financial year, Gwanya said.
The commission currently employs 342 workers, and plans to increase the number by 150 to help speed up the programme.
Source: BuaNews
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