Reforming communal land tenure in South Africa – why land titling is not the answer: Critical comments on the communal land rights bill, 2002
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Date
2002
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS)
Abstract
The long-awaited draft Communal Land Rights Bill sets out government’s proposals to resolve urgent land tenure problems in the former ‘homeland’ areas, where most rural South Africans still live, and where land is registered in the name of the state. These problems derive from lack of adequate legal recognition of communal tenure systems, abuse by powerful elites, breakdown of the old permit-based system, and gender inequalities.
They result in conflicting claims to land and bitter disputes over authority. Development efforts are severely constrained by lack of clarity on land rights, and the tensions that result. Tenure insecurity also results from the forced overcrowding of these areas under apartheid. This means that de facto rights often overlap and are in conflict.
Description
Keywords
Communal land tenure, South Africa, Land titling, Communal land right bill
Citation
Cousins, B., 2002. Reforming communal land tenure in South Africa – why land titling is not the answer: Critical comments on the communal land rights bill, 2002. Cape Town: Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS).