STATE AND PUBLIC LAND MANAGEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND LAND REFORM 17 SEPTEMBER 2014

INTRODUCTION The Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform has asked for a briefing on the State and public land management in South Africa, focusing on: Completion of land surveying and a comprehensive national database of all land under the national government; State land available for land reform, per province and mechanisms to fast track the release of state land for land reform and settlement of land claims on state land; and Report on state land released for redistribution and transferred under restitution per province since 1994.

Completion of land surveying A national land surveying programme was initiated in 2011 under the leadership of the Chief Surveyor General. The plan was aimed at identifying and surveying all un-surveyed State land and State domestic facilities. The surveying has practically been completed except for minor ‘gap areas’ and ‘slithers’ of State land between river bank boundaries. ‘Gap areas’, formed by geometric shape of surveyed Administrative Areas are now under final research to facilitate decisions on whether to prepare in-house diagrams or to complete through ground survey.

Completion of land surveying ‘Slithers’ of State land (located between river-bank boundaries) were not prioritised since they won’t be used for any land development purpose. Certain mountainous areas along international boundaries also remain un-surveyed. Most of these areas are inaccessible and have no practical use hence they were also not prioritised. 3.255 million hectares of State Land have been surveyed since the surveying programme started and about 13 692 hectares in the Eastern Cape are currently being examined by the Surveyor General for approval.

comprehensive national database of all land under the national government There’s no legislative authority at the present moment that empowers any department to develop and maintain a comprehensive national database of State land. It is consequently not possible to accurately report on land falling under the national or provincial spheres. Any department that seeks to produce a database, with the capability to distinguish land ownership between spheres of government, is bound to produce inaccurate results since changes in ownership happen quite often.

comprehensive national database of all land under the national government The DRDLR is currently drafting a bill that seeks to, amongst other things, create a centralised database for land owned by all spheres of government and their entities. This will help clarify public land ownership and also create the capacity to extract the type of data required by the Portfolio Committee.

State land available for land reform per province Currently the Department and National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC) are in a process of identifying 1 million hectares of land including state land and former homeland areas for food security. Once identified, an audit of existing infrastructure will be conducted. NAMC will analyze the suitability of land in terms of all agricultural variables. DRDLR has provided NAMC with state land data for further analysis by their experts. A study has been conducted in the Eastern Cape however planting can only be done in the next financial year.

mechanisms to fast track the release of state land for land reform and settlement of land claims on state land The DRDLR has generally not experienced challenges on the release of State land for land redistribution purposes hence no special mechanisms have ever been deemed necessary in this regard. The real challenge has arisen in relation to the resolution of land restitution claims on State land. This has mainly been caused by uncertainty regarding ownership and lack of knowledge regarding processes that need to be followed. With a view to deal with the challenge mentioned above, the DRDLR has developed a procedure document to be applied in dealing with restitution claims on State land.

mechanisms to fast track the release of state land for land reform and settlement of land claims on state land The Procedure Document for Processing Restitution Claims on State Land has been circulated with this presentation. It currently constitute an effective mechanism in clarifying applicable processes.

state land released for redistribution and transferred under restitution per province since 1994 The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights keeps data on land transferred during the settlement of a land restitution claim. Some few issues are still being attended to regarding the accuracy of data on transferred State land hence it can be presented later once is has been sufficiently analysed. The related information worth sharing is on claims settled on State land. The next slide breaks this information per province.

state land released for redistribution and transferred under restitution per province since 1994 extent EASTERN CAPE 125,258 FREE STATE 38,292 GAUTENG 10,952 KZN 211,685 LIMPOPO 212,577 MPUMALANGA 108,735 NORTHERN CAPE 263,543 NORTH WEST 126,673 WESTERN CAPE 856

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