Land restitution option removed from Green Paper

The Land and Agricultural Reform Green Paper released for public comment has taken away the state's option of reviving the land restitution process - but suggests the need to review security of tenure and land ownership in tribal and communal areas, says a Business Day analysis.

It adds that apart from omitting land restitution, many of the proposed changes had already been flagged by Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti. His spokesperson reportedly confirmed that restitution was not in the document because it presented problems that would be dealt with in a different manner. The Green Paper says the aim is to speed up the process of land reform, helping the government meet its 30% redistribution target by 2014, while at the same time arresting the decline in agriculture's contribution to GDP. On the establishment of the Land Management Commission, the paper says that the body would be autonomous but not independent of the Ministry and the Department. It would co-ordinate land reform initiatives, ensuring alignment and inter-linkages between disparate land management agencies, departments, and other organs of state. It would also manage the regulatory environment.
Full Business Day report
Draft Green Paper on Land Reform (PDF file)