Public Hearings on the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill

We received the draft programme for Public Hearings on the Bill as published by the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform. The hearing in Nelspruit is planned for 21 June 2018 at the Civic Centre (to be confirmed—time not indicated).

The Bill seeks to reopen the lodgement of land claims until five years after the commencement of the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act, 2017 and to comply with the Constitutional Court order; to criminalise the lodgement of a fraudulent claim; to further regulate the appointment, and to further amend certain provisions which are aimed at promoting the effective implementation of the Act, such as:

The Bill proposes that the Commission first finalise all claims lodged by 31 December 1998 (old claims) before processing claims lodged in terms of the Amendment Act and those that might be lodged when the Bill is signed into law (new claims).

Clauses 2 & 3 propose that the claimant, in addition to publishing it in the Gazette, also publishes notice of the claim in the media circulating nationally and in the province. In addition, the Commission should develop and keep a register where particulars of claims lodged from 1 July 2014 must be inserted, which register will be open to the public.

Download Draft Bill:  Restitution of Land Rights draft amendment bill as introduced