Abstract:
Leading up to the 2014 pre-election period, land reform matters received more
attention than in the preceding two years. The centenary of the 1913 Land Act
also drew attention to the plight of many people who are still living in dismal
conditions (see eg Nxumalo ‘Children who don’t see the sky’ Mail & Guardian
2013-08-23-29) 20). New Bills to speed up the land reform process were
introduced and Parliament approved the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment
Bill [B35B-2013] to allow additional land claims to be lodged until 30 June 2019
(see the discussion infra). The courts also delivered important decisions
pertaining to land restitution, tenure reform and land use planning.
In this note on land, the most important measures and court decisions
pertaining to restitution, land redistribution, land reform, housing, land use
planning, deeds, sectional titles, agriculture and rural development are
discussed.