PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
No. 1057.
26 June 1996
NO. 31 OF 1996: INTERIM PROTECTION OF INFORMAL LAND RIGHTS ACT, 1996.
It is hereby notified that the President has assented to the following Act which
is hereby published for general information:-
ACT
To provide for the temporary protection of certain rights to and interests in
land which are not otherwise adequately protected by law; and to provide for
matters connected therewith.
(Afrikaans text signed by the President.)
(Assented to 21 June 1996.)
BE IT ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as follows:-
Definitions
1. (1) In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise-
(i) "beneficial occupation" means the occupation of land by a person, as
if he or she is the owner, without force, openly and without the
permission of the registered owner; (vi)
(ii) "community" means any group or portion of a group of persons whose
rights to land are derived from shared rules determining access to
land held in common by such group; (i)
(iii) "informal right to land" means-
(a) the use of, occupation of, or access to land in terms of-
(i) any tribal, customary or indigenous law or practice Of a
tribe;
(ii) the custom, usage or administrative practice in a particular
area or community, where the land in question at any time
vested in-
(aa) the South African Development Trust established by
section 4 of the Development Trust and Land Act, 1936
(Act No. 18 of 1936);
(bb) the government of any area for which a legislative
assembly was established in terms of the Self-Governing
Territories Constitution Act, 1971 (Act No. 21 of
1971), or
(cc) the governments of the former Republics of Transkei,
Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei,
(b) the right or interest in land of a beneficiary under a trust
arrangement in terms of which the trustee is a body or
functionary established or appointed by or under an Act of
Parliament or the holder of a public office;
(c) beneficial occupation of land for a continuous period of not
less than five years prior to 31 December 1997; or
(d) the use or occupation by any person of an erf as if he or she is
in respect of that erf, the holder of a right mentioned in
Schedule 1 or 2 of the Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Act, 1991
(Act No. 112 of 1991), although he or she is not formally
recorded in a register of land rights as the holder of the right
in question,
but does not include-
(e) any right or interest of a tenant, labour tenant, sharecropper
or employee if such right or interest is purely of a contractual
nature; and
(f) any right or interest based purely on temporary permission
granted by the owner or lawful occupier of the land in question,
on the basis that such permission may at any time be withdrawn
by such owner or lawful occupier; (ii)
(iv) "Minister" means the Minister of Land Affairs; (iii)
(v) "person" includes a community or a part thereof; (iv)
(vi) "prescribed" means prescribed by or under this Act; (vii)
(vii) "tribe" includes-
(a) any community living and existing like a tribe; and
(b) any part of a tribe living and existing as a separate entity.
(v)
(2)(a) This Act shall not confer on the holder of a real right to land, any
rights in addition to those which he or she holds in that land.
(b) The holder of an informal right in land shall be deemed to be an owner
of land for the purposes of section 42 of the Minerals Act, 1991 (Act
No. 50 of 1991).
Deprivation of informal rights to land
2. (1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (4), and the provisions of the
Expropriation Act, 1975 (Act No. 63 of 1975), or any other law which provides
for the expropriation of land or rights in land, no person may be deprived of
any informal right to land without his or her consent.
(2) Where land is held on a communal basis, a person may, subject to
subsection (4), be deprived of such land or right in land in accordance with the
custom and usage of that community.
(3) Where the deprivation of a fight in land in terms of subsection (2) is
caused by a disposal of the land or a right in land by the community, the
community shall pay appropriate compensation to any person who is deprived of an
informal right to land as a result of such disposal.
(4) For the purposes of this section the custom and usage of a community
shall be deemed to include the principle that a decision to dispose of any such
right may only be taken by a majority of the holders of such rights present or
represented at a meeting convened for the purpose of considering such disposal
and of which they have been given sufficient notice, and in which they have had
a reasonable opportunity to participate.
Sales and other dispositions subject to informal rights
3. Subject to the provisions of section 2, any sale or other disposition of any
land shall be subject to any existing informal rights to that land.
Regulations
4. The Minister may make regulations regarding all matters which are necessary
or expedient to be prescribed in order to achieve the objects of this Act.
Application and duration of Act
5. (1) This Act binds all persons, including the State.
(2) The provisions of this Act shall lapse on 31 December 1997: Provided
that the Minister may, at any time before such provisions lapse, by notice in
the Gazette extend the application of such provisions for a period of not more
than 12 months: Provided further that any such notice shall be laid upon the
Table of Parliament, and if Parliament by resolution disapproves of such notice,
such notice shall cease to be of force and effect, but without prejudice to the
validity of anything done in terms of such notice before it so ceased to be of
force and effect.
Short title
6. This Act shall be called the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act,
1996.