Land Affairs, Ms Lulu Xingwana at the launch of the Land Claims Commissionâs
Annual Report, Limpopo
11 August 2006
The MEC for Agriculture
The Executive Mayor
The Chief Land Claims Commissioner
The Regional Land Claims Commissioner
The General Manager for Land and Agrarian Reform
Officials from the Regional Land Claims Commission, the Provincial Land Reform
Office and the Department of Agriculture
Our social partners
Members of the various media institutions
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Thank you for joining me on my visit to the Limpopo province. There are
three reasons why I am undertaking this visit.
Firstly, to launch the Land Claims Commissionâs annual report; secondly, to
participate in the provincial Female Farmer of the year award ceremony, which,
towards the end of this month, will culminate in a national event where the
provincial winners will contest the national award; thirdly, to visit two land
reform projects and get first hand experience of the progress of land reform in
the province, challenges being experienced and identify lessons that can be
learnt to ensure a successful land reform programme both in the province and in
our country in general.
Land ownership has long been a source of conflict in our country. Our
history is littered with conquests, dispossessions, forced removals and
politically motivated, racially-skewed distribution of land resources. All
these have left us with complex and difficult legacies to unravel, address and
undo.
Our Constitution specifically made provisions for restitution of property
(or equitable redress); for enabling our citizenry to gain access to land on an
equitable basis; and finally, for providing legally secure tenure. Whilst the
three key elements of our land reform programme â restitution, redistribution
and tenure reform â address each of these constitutional requirements, it
became increasingly imperative that land reform does not only address the
legacies of the past, but is also leveraged as a foundation and catalyst for
economic growth and development that results in increased income levels, job
opportunities, productive land use and well-planned human settlements.
By this February, the Commission had settled 89 percent (71 589 claims) of
the 79 696 claims lodged by 31 December 1998 nationally. Only 8 107 remain
outstanding of which 6 975 are rural and 1 132 are urban claims. The Commission
is mindful that that though it has targets to meet, it should also leave behind
a legacy of sustainable settlements. To that end, the Commission has developed
a 10-year implementation strategy to ensure sustainable restoration, which
includes capacitating and training beneficiaries.
The Commissionâs work has not been easy â not that we expected it to be
easy! Some of the enduring challenges it has had to confront include lack of
cooperation from some role players - land owners contesting the validity of
claims, claimants and community membersâ conflicts, etc and exorbitant land
prices.
Whilst there are common restitution challenges in all the provinces, Limpopo
presents its own, peculiar challenges, such as the following:
* Given the predominantly rural profile of the province, most of the claims
are rural. Rural claims are more challenging to resolve and take longer to
settle than urban claims.
* Most of the land in the province is under claim, including the highly
commercialised, productive agricultural land which is the economic engine of
the province and a major contributor the provinceâs Gross Domestic Product
(GDP).
Besides a few urban claims (for which financial compensation has been
given), as could be expected, there has been massive rural claims on commercial
farms (e.g. Levubu, Makgobaskloof, Greater Letaba [Mooketsi], Hoedspruit,
Ba-Phalaborwa, Lephalale, etc), nature reserves, parks and game farms.
These challenges are exacerbated by the profile of our beneficiaries who,
mainly as a result of our colonial and racist past, have limited financial
resources, skills, etc required for productive utilisation of the land
resources once handed over to them.
Total claims lodged in the province, after consolidation, amounted to 3 654
and to date, over 73 percent of claims have been finalised, with only 972
claims currently outstanding. Some of the restitution highlights in the
province include the following:
* the finalisation of the 1st phase of the Levubu land claims (about R218
million) involving eight communities and the appointment of two strategic
partners to ensure the success of the ventures
* the finalisation of the Sekoro land claims (about R63 million) and the
appointment of two strategic partners
* the finalisation of the Mabula-Mosima land claims on the Zingela Nature
Reserve and the appointment of a strategic partner to ensure that communities
can truly benefit from the handover
* the finalisation of the building of two clinics for the Hlomela and Msengi
communities in the Thulamela municipality
* the finalisation of the approval processes for the purchase of Hoedspruit
farms (for R86 million) for the Moletele community and the commencement of the
process to appoint a strategic partner.
We will visit one of the restitution projects â Mamahlola, an agricultural
area with 14 farms constituting 3 566 hectares, which was restored to the
Mamahlola Communal Property Association and handed over to them during February
2001. This area has mango, banana, litchi, avocado, macadamia, citrus, guava
and pecan crops under cultivation on an area just less than 700 hectares. At
one stage Mamahlola was on the brink of collapse but through strategic
interventions, is back on track and flourishing. We need to emulate such
successful interventions and make sure that a land handover to beneficiaries
should not equal a failure that is about to happen!
We will also visit a land reform youth project - run by nine youths on a
full-time basis harvesting chickens every four weeks, and this time targeting 1
200 chickens.
It is evident that government will not, on its own, be able to undo the
legacies of the past as well as leverage land and agrarian reform as a catalyst
and foundation to grow our economy to the 6% we are all communally aiming for,
without the active participation and involvement of our social partners.
Thank you.
Issued by: Ministry for Agriculture and Land Affairs
11 August 2006
