Justice for farm dweller

THE reinforcement of legal prescripts and legislation passed under the democratic dispensation is helping to address structural discrimination and the marginalisation of black South Africans.

Enacted by organs of government, the laws put forward to deal with the injustices of the past are now bringing us closer to real freedom.

The off-farm settlement that was brokered by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform’s Gauteng provincial shared service centre between a farmer and a farm dweller made me punch the air in excitement.

Through the Tenure Implementation Systems’ Directorate, the department managed to enact provisions of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (Esta) to defuse a bruising and long-standing stand-off between the owner of a farm and a farm dweller near Bronkhorstspruit.

The family was threatened with eviction from the farm, which was their home for decades. In terms of the law, a person or community whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices is entitled either to tenure which is legally secure or to comparable redress.

Likewise, Esta provides for procedures for eviction by giving rural or peri-urban dwellers inalienable legal rights, with the permission of the owner or the person in charge, to continue residing on the land unless there are compelling reasons for terminating these rights.

The department, armed with the prescripts of Esta, managed to legally secure tenure or comparable redress for the family.

In terms of the off-farm settlement, the department agreed to assist the family in identifying land outside the farm, and the owner agreed to build a house for the family once the land had been secured.

The house has been built and tenure has been secured. This is a good story to tell.