Cape Town - The agriculture, land reform and rural development portfolio committee has applauded the Land Claims Commission for the work it has done in settling land claims.
This after the commission briefed the committee on settled claims and finalising “old order” claims from 1995 to March 2023.
The commission also provided a status report on the submission of its report to the Land Claims Court. Land Claims Commissioner Nomfundo Ntloko-Gobodo said the commission had settled 82 976 claims nationwide.
“This cost R53 billion in total, of which financial compensation cost R22bn, the acquisition of land cost R25bn and grants R5bn,” Ntloko-Gobodo said.
She also said the commission had settled more than 3.8 million hectares to the benefit of 2.3 million beneficiaries, including 175 000 female-headed households and 1 246 people living with disabilities.
Briefing the committee on six-month reports to the Land Claims Court in line with a 2019 Constitutional Court judgment, Ntloko-Gobodo said the commission had successfully submitted seven reports.
The latest report was submitted in January.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Mcebisi Skwatsha, said the department was considering making an assessment on the way forward in relation to the required human and financial resources, which would be presented to the Cabinet.
Committee chairperson Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela said: “I truly believe that the only manner where we will be able to fast-track this is for us to implement expropriation of land without compensation, and in doing so, we will be able to address this gross and grave injustice and ensure that land hunger is corrected.”
Mandela said Parliament instructed the department to ensure that it was in full compliance with the court order and expected a programme outlining how it intended to address all outstanding claims and its related issues and challenges.
“The restitution of land rights and its related claims is a fundamental pillar of restorative justice envisaged by the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
“While we welcome the immense progress made by the department and the Commission on Land Claims in concluding outstanding pre-1998 claims as per the Constitutional Court order, any such outstanding claims delay restorative justice for post-1998 claims,” he said.
Mandela urged the department to address the matter with the urgency it deserved, and reaffirmed the importance of a programme and timetable for settling all outstanding old order claims.
Cape Times