GOOD statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
15 September 2022
South Africa’s land restitution programme is more-or-less as badly managed as its electricity generating programme.
The land reform process’ struggles perpetuate inequality and spatial injustice, while Eskom’s failures hammer prospects for economic growth.
Both have profoundly negative impacts on the state of the nation’s sense of wellbeing, and citizen’s trust in the State to oversee a just and sustainable future.
I have been trying to assist a Mitchell’s Plain resident, Mr Boyder, who lodged a land claim for an erf in Schaapkraal, Philippi. Yesterday I received a letter, from the Commission of Restitution of Land Rights, which informs Mr Boyder that although the claim was validly lodged, the process had been stuck for the past six years.
The commission said its hands had been tied by a Constitutional Court order that claims such as Mr Boyder’s, lodged in the July 2014-2016 window, couldn’t be settled until those lodged in the first window, which closed in 1998, had been considered. The only alternative was for parliament to amend the legislation…
With claims lodged by December 1998 being settled at snail’s pace, and with no sign of the relevant Department rushing to champion the changing of the law, people in Mr Boyder’s position are in for a long wait. Many first generation land restitution claimants have already passed away before seeing justice done, with many more sure to follow.
The worst part of the Commission’s letter to Mr Boyder is its bottom line. After informing him it will not be able to process his claim but will let him know if things change, the commission thanks him for his patience and asks him to update it if he changes his postal address. No undertakings, no proposed solutions, no projected timelines.
The democratic State’s inability to reduce inherited inequalities is a national crisis. This has greatly contributed to creating an environment of desperation for many who feel they have nothing to lose… an environment that makes events such as those that occurred in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng 14 months ago possible.
Nearly 30 years after consigning apartheid to history too few South Africans feel they have received recognition for their disempowerment and trauma. Too few feel they have received any kind of freedom dividend.
Processes such as land reform should be critical contributors to disabusing them of these valid anxieties and hopes for better futures in a shared land.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD: Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD: Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za