1913 Land Act: 20 000 title deeds delivered by DA-led governments in 2 years
19 June 2018
On this day in 1913 the Native Land Act was passed into law. It was an evil piece of legislation that prevented black South Africans from owning or buying land outside of ‘native reserves’, which were overcrowded, unsuited for farming, and remote. The Act was the precursor for a raft of legislation that continued this dispossession, including the ‘homelands’ policy and the Group Areas Act. The painful social and economic legacy of the Native Land Act remains with South Africa still. Land ownership is still severely skewed, black families are still largely asset poor and remain unable to build savings and wealth. This is the legacy that the DA seeks to undo every single day.
This legacy can and must be righted. While other parties talk about it, the DA in government is delivering real, meaningful urban property ownership that is undoing the legacy of the 1913 Land Act. Norah Motshelane, Sidodo Mazondo and Aubrey Mketsu’s family stories are examples of how this can begin to be done. I visited them at the Motshelane’s home in Lufhereng, Soweto today, which was an uplifting reminder of what real freedom looks like when you own the land that you live on.
A title deed gives one ownership and economic empowerment. It puts people locked out of economic opportunity on the first rung of the asset accumulation ladder. It allows people to leverage this asset, to generate income, and to leave a real asset for their children after they pass away. It was this power of title that allowed my parents to send me to school and get an education.
DA-led coalition governments in metro councils have delivered nearly 20 000 title deeds between August 2016 to March 2018, 70% of which have been delivered in Johannesburg and Tshwane.