Leaders to get land

Land belonging to communities under the authority of traditional leaders is to be transferred to them.

This is one of the resolutions taken at the ANC national elective conference yesterday.

Chair of the ANC subcommittee on legislature and governance, Obed Bapela, pictured, said traditional leaders submitted a proposal asking for the land to be transferred to the communities.

He said while the land was under their authority as traditional leaders, their powers to control the land had diminished and had been taken over by local government officials.

At least 13% of land belonging to traditional communities is in the hands of traditional leaders but held in trust by the state.

“The traditional leaders asked for the land to be transferred to them because it is under no dispute and is registered in their names,” Bapela said.

He said when the state transfers the land, some conditions have to be attached, including the question of the security of tenure, the title deed issue, the land use and how the government would ensure the training of beneficiaries so that the land is utilised productively.

Presently, rural land is used mainly for communal purposes such as stock grazing and fields for planting.

Many communities without state assistance use rudimentary methods of agriculture such as ploughing using a span of oxen and planting seeds using a hoe.

Agricultural methods such as mechanised planting and ploughing are not part of their way of life.

Traditional leaders asked for the land to be transferred to them because it is under no dispute and is registered in their names. Obed Bapela ANC subcommittee on legislature, governance