Land: ‘400 000 claims could be valid’

Published Jul 11, 2014

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There could be as many as 400 000 valid land claims that could still be lodged by victims of apartheid-era forced removals, Communications Minister Faith Muthambi said yesterday. She said the cabinet welcomed President Jacob Zuma’s signing into law of the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act. The law opens a second five-year window for the lodgement of land claims. The previous window closed in 1998. “While approximately 80 000 land restitution claims were lodged by the 1998 deadline, it is estimated there are up to five times as many valid cases that can be brought by victims of forced removals,” Muthambi said. The cabinet called on South Africans to spread the message “to ensure victims of land dispossession come forward to lodge their land claims” by June 2019. – Sapa

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