Question NW716 to the President of the Republic

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12 April 2016 - NW716

Profile picture: Lekota, Mr M

Lekota, Mr M to ask the President of the Republic

(1)Whether, with reference to his address at the opening of the House of Traditional Leaders on 3 March 2016 wherein he stated that the very law that we have today regarding land restitution is lopsided against black persons, he has instructed his Executive to act immediately to rectify the specified law, informed by a new policy, so that both black persons and current land owners who are not black know exactly (a) how the Government intends to resolve the matter of land claims once and forever and (b) in what period of time; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant (i) details and (ii) time frames; (2) whether he will make a full statement on how the Government will radically increase the pace and the extent of land reform so that the aspirations of black persons are met and restitution is completed

Reply:

1. What I said when I addressed the National House of Traditional Leaders is that a vast number of black people in South Africa had already been dispossessed of their land when the Natives Land Act was passed in 1913. I then asked a question whether in view of this fact it made sense to have 1913 as the starting date for land restitution.

By posing the question mentioned above I was not saying the existing policy on land restitution in no longer operational. Should there be a need for a change of policy in this area, proper procedures of policy development will be followed, which will include consulting important stakeholders in the sector.

2. The pace of land reform has been very slow. One of the major contributors has been the matter of property valuations, which resulted to some landowners pricing the land under consideration for land redistribution very high. It is for this reason that we submitted to Parliament the Property Valuation Bill, which Parliament subsequently passed into law. One of the provisions of the Property Valuation Act is the establishment of the Office of the Valuer-General, which is tasked with the responsibility of valuating property that has been identified for expropriation and land reform purposes.

It is our belief that the establishment of this office will assist in accelerating the pace of land reform.

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