Electronic system plan to fast-track land reform programme

Land reform at centre of the government’s five priorities since 2007

MINISTER of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti has tabled the Electronic Deeds Registration Systems Bill to fast-track 20 million land parcels as part of the government’s land reform programme.

The tabling of the bill in Parliament comes as the ANC begins its conference in Nasrec, Joburg, tomorrow.

Land reform is at the centre of the government’s five priorities since the 2007 ANC Polokwane conference.

The ANC is set to endorse some of the proposals from the policy conference held in June.

The Electronics Deeds Registration Systems Bill is part of a raft of bills tabled by Nkwinti in Parliament in an attempt to speed up land reform.

A few months ago he announced the tabling of the Communal Land Tenure Bill, the Regulation of Agricultural Land Holdings Bill, the Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Bill and the Land Valuations Regulations under the Property Valuation Association Act.

In the Electronics Deeds Registration Systems Bill, the government wants to move away from processing deeds manually to doing so on an electronic system.

The bill states that “the inability of the present registration infrastructure and resources to accommodate the increase in volume in respect of an anticipated 20 million land parcels of the government’s land reform measures” are some of the problems that warrant the introduction of the bill.

“The Electronic Deeds Registration System has been drafted to provide legislation that is required for the development of an e-DRS,” states the bill.

This would make registration of large volumes of deeds possible.

The ANC has asked for the fast-tracking of the land reform programme over the past 10 years.

Nkwinti recently proposed that the Chief Land Claims Commissioner be redesigned and turned into a Chapter 9 institution.

The government was recently forced to halt the process to lodge new land claims after the Constitutional Court found that the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill was flawed.

The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform had found that new land claims would cost between R129 billion and R179bn. This was based on its research that about 400 000 new land claims would be lodged in the new window period. By the time the court halted the process in July last year, more than 120 000 new land claims had been lodged.

Parliament has until July next year to amend the bill, as directed by the Constitutional Court.