Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on resolution of land claims
19 June 2024
This year marks 111 years since the Natives Land Act of 1913 was introduced in South Africa. This Act significantly impacted the country's socioeconomic landscape by drastically restricting African land ownership, while allocating the majority of the land to White settlers. This legislation led to the forced eviction of Africans from their ancestral lands, pushing them into servitude and making cheap labour the norm. The Act entrenched racial segregation, presenting Whites as superior to Blacks, a perception that has had lasting effects on our society.
This historical context underscores the importance of our current efforts in land restitution. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), through the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights (CRLR), remains dedicated to addressing the injustices of the past and accelerating the resolution of land claims.
Since the inception of the land restitution process, significant progress has been made. From 1998 to 2024, the CRLR has settled a total of 83 205 land claims lodged during the initial lodgement period. These claims represent historically dispossessed individuals and communities across the country.
The CRLR has been actively handing over title deeds and providing financial compensation to claimants in all provinces, with the majority of these claims in Western Cape (17 488), Eastern Cape (17 258), KwaZulu-Natal (16 179), Gauteng (13 271), Limpopo (4 834), Northern Cape (4 069), North West (3 981), Mpumalanga (3 450) and Free State (2 675).