SA to get specialist land court
● Aim is to address hurdles that make it difficult for claimants to obtain restitution, says Lamola
SA will soon have a land court that has greater powers for reform and restitution in SA after the cabinet approved the submission last week of the Land Court Bill to parliament.
The bill sets out to establish a specialist land court, with its judgments, orders and decisions appealable at the proposed specialist land court of appeal.
The Land Claims Court, established in 1996 to deal with land restitution and land claims cases, has a huge backlog, which could take years to resolve because of the cases’ complexity.
Justice minister Ronald Lamola said yesterday the bill sought to address the systemic hurdles that made it difficult for claimants to obtain land restitution.
He was speaking during a virtual media briefing to give more details on the bill.
“For instance, the bill allows for hearsay evidence for most families who have to rely on oral history and the existence of elders with knowledge of the description, location and extent of land which their descendants previously occupied,” he said.
“It also allows for expert evidence regarding the historical and anthropological facts relevant to any particular land claim.”
He said while the bill was not a silver bullet that could undo the effects of colonialism it was an important step in the right direction.
“It creates a policy frame to ensure that land reform is guided by sound legal and economic principles and contribute to the country’s investment of objectives and job creation initiatives.”
The court will be based in Johannesburg but can sit anywhere in the country.
It will have a judge-president and deputy judge-president who must be judges of the high court and have knowledge, experience and expertise in the field of land rights matters. People may represent themselves or be represented in court by their lawyer.
However, Legal Aid SA can be used to represent the person.
The judge-president also has the power to refer the matter for mediation or arbitration.
Lamola said this would ensure issues were dealt with quickly, just like the CCMA.
“We hope many of the issues will be resolved at the arbitration stage.”
At the same media briefing, agriculture, land reform and rural development minister Thoko Didiza said SA’s constitution came about against a backdrop of apartheid, a central feature of which was inequality based on race.
“The inequality resulted in the direct assault of the dignity of black people, in particular.
“It was not only the dignity of black people that suffered, but white areas in general also were affluent and black ones were in the main impoverished and underdeveloped.
“The direct effects of [apartheid] Acts were that only 8% of SA’s total land area was set aside as a native reserve, whereas the entire land was enjoyed by a few.”
She said it was against this background that the government had taken the decision to introduce the Land Court Bill to parliament.
“The financial capacitation and expansion of the mandate of Legal Aid SA to resolve landrelated disputes will ensure a speedy resolution of land-related disputes by using the mediation and arbitration approach.
“I do not doubt that the introduction of the Land Court Bill will promote access to land on an equitable basis and contribute to a speedy resolution of land-related matters and contribute to nation-building and restoration of the dignity of our people.”
Agri Eastern Cape president Doug Stern said the land claims court already existed, along with many other avenues, for land reform.
“Show me just one avenue that is successful.
“We are engaging them on various models,” he said.
“We need to sit down around a table to deal with land reform.
“However, protection of property rights is a nonnegotiable.”