Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Five main concerns were highlighted by the secretariat of the Commission on the
Restitution of Land Rights as follows:
• duplication of functions between the Department of Land Affairs and the Commission;
• improperly defined lines of accountability;
• a dualistic approach to policy and procedures;
•
the slow pace of the mandatory judicial process for settling claims;
•
lack of integration of the restitution process into the broader land reform programme.
A review was subsequently conducted in the course of 1999 and led to the enactment of an
amendment to the Restitution Act. The powers of the Minister of Land Affairs received a
boost in the amendment as claims could now be finalized at the ministerial level rather than
in the Land Claims Court. Within a year of the review, the pace of land claims settlement
had picked and the process was moving quite smoothly. An assessment conducted in 2001
showed that the review process had been effective in unshackling the process from its
bureaucratic straightjackets. Table 9.2 presents results of the assessment.
Table 9.2. Land restitution outcomes as at March, 2001 (Department of Land Affairs and Department of
Agriculture, 2005).
Land restoration
Households awarded land
16,764
Land cost
R191,270,645.00
Hectares of land restored (Court process)
173,805
Hectares of land restored (Ministerial approval)
109,421
Total beneficiaries receiving land
100,584
Financial compensation
Households awarded compensation
10,921
Financial compensation awarded (Land Claims Court)
R21,860,330.00
Financial compensation awarded (Ministerial Approval)
R287,043,658.10
Restitution total
Claims settled as at 31 March 2001
12,094
Total households
27,685
Total restitution beneficiaries
164,661
Total restitution cost
R500,174,633.10
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