SOUTH AFRICA: Land reform bill shelved

THROUGHOUT South Africa thousands of claims are still being processed for land and property which was unlawfully snatched from black owners during the Apartheid era.

The South African Government’s land restitution programme is focused on returning land to blacks seized by whites after 1913. A think tank concluded that the scheme has failed.  In April, 2008 an Expropriation Bill was introduced by the ruling party ANC, giving the government powers to transfer land and property from existing owners.

However, the Government of South Africa has now indicated that in 2014 it wants to expropriate almost one third of white-owned farmland in that country and has shelved any legislation aiming to re-introduce the Bill at a later date. A Committee Statement read, “The decision to shelve the bill was reached after consultation with various stakeholders both within and outside Parliament and in the interest of broader consultation and effective public participation.”

At the end of 1994, the whites who made up under 10% of the population owned nearly 90% of the land.

To date just 4% has been transferred back to the blacks.

Critics state that this legislation would stop people going to court if their property was taken and therefore, any legislation would be unconstitutional.