Question NW2661 to the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
21 December 2020 - NW2661
Matiase, Mr NS to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What (a) total number of (i) farmworkers and (ii) farm dwellers have been evicted from farms since 1994 and (b) is the total breakdown of evictions in each province?
Reply:
a) (i),(ii) The Extension of Security of Tenure Act of 1997 does not distinguish between farmworkers and farm dwellers. All persons (whether farmworker or farm dweller) residing on farms may be evicted legally in terms of the Act ie with a court order, or illegally which is an eviction without a court order as provided in the Act.
According to the Department’s records, 1 066 households were evicted from the farms from 2007 to 2020. This figure is the number of evictions granted from 2007 to October 2020 by Magistrates’ courts throughout the country. Evictions granted by the Land Claims Court from 1994 to 2020 are not included above as the court is still compiling its statistics and such information will be made available once received on or before 18 December 2020.
It should further be noted that not all evictions are reported to the Department or brought before courts.
b) The provincial breakdown of the 1 066 households is as follows:
|
Province |
Eastern Cape |
Free State |
Gauteng |
KwaZulu Natal |
Limpopo |
Mpumalanga |
North West |
Northern Cape |
Western Cape |
TOTAL |
|
Legal/Court Order |
20 |
112 |
10 |
21 |
2 |
37 |
11 |
8 |
548 |
769 |
|
Illegally |
33 |
65 |
27 |
4 |
11 |
48 |
9 |
2 |
98 |
297 |
|
Total |
53 |
177 |
37 |
25 |
13 |
85 |
20 |
10 |
646 |
1 066 |