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Interview starts at 6 minutes 44 seconds
Duduzile Ramela: Six years ago, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) commissioned a study to assess the socio-economic impact of land restitution programs. Yesterday, Minister Thoko Didisa announced the findings of the report, which revealed that land grabbing not only has devastating economic effects, but also has deadly consequences for dispossessed family units. I made it.
We speak to Bulelwa Mabasa. She is affiliated with Worksman's, where she is director of land reform, where she is a member of the President's Advisory Council on Land Reform and the author of the following books: attachment to my land, she joined us to see this report. Madam, thank you very much for your time this afternoon. What do we know about how this study was conducted?
Bulelwa Mabasa: It is learned that the study was carried out considering a total of 2,664 households and 3,378 individuals. This was actually commissioned by the University of Cape Town's Southern Africa Labor Development Research Unit (SALDRU) in partnership with the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), which was launched in 2018.
Duduzile Ramela: Essentially, what was the big idea?
Bulelwa Mabasa: Dudu, this is by no means official, but from my interactions with many other thinkers and reparations leaders, the idea that reparations doesn't work, is too difficult, and is difficult for land claimants. I think there were some ideas. To prove their rights to the land. There was an informal debate about whether restitution should be withheld in favor of redistribution, where people would not have to prove their rights to the land.
So this was what was happening in the hallways of think tanks over whether reparations were still a process worth following.
However, what we can see and glean from this study is that the effects of land grabbing not only affected the economic well-being of those affected by land grabbing, but also the families of those who were forcibly evicted. I think that means it has also collapsed.
It is important to look at the psychological well-being and despair of dispossessed people and their descendants from a land justice perspective.
Really, I think what's important to me is that the research says that as a result, the deprivation of these communities and deprived people has also resulted in a decline in their cognitive and decision-making abilities. . It's a war over the effects of property deprivation not only on a family's economic well-being, but also on their psychological well-being. So I think the bottom line is how important reparations are in the context of land reform.
Duduzile Ramela: How is things going, since the Restoration of the Land Rights Act of 1994 was one of the first laws passed by this democratically elected government? How will you evaluate it in 2024, 30 years from now? How have we fared given the results you highlighted?
Bulelwa Mabasa: So let's put it in context. The first land claims issue I encountered as a practicing lawyer appeared on my desk in 2006. We now sit in 2024, and this land claim that I interacted with early in my career is still there, and it's still unresolved. It was concluded that it was not one of those things.
The Minister told us that since the land restitution program began, 83,077 claims have been resolved between 1995 and 2023. This is said to represent 94% of all claims.
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But when we look at practice and look beyond the statistics to real people, much of the land ownership we deal with is far from conclusive. Some of them have not even been investigated yet. We see many of them that are no longer traceable.
Therefore, the question arises whether the statistics of about 94% of them are finalized and whether they include those that are not tracked, cannot be traced, or have disappeared from the system. Does that include something that involves so many conflicts? In other words, we know of many disputes that have arisen within common property associations after the land has been awarded, or after financial compensation has been awarded. So, given what I just said, the question arises whether we should be reassured by the 94% settled statistic.
Duduzile Ramela: That's it, 94%, do you have an inventory that shows there are 10 forfeiture cases, 5 have been processed and 3 more left? do you understand? So 94% of what we're working on is in stock?
Bulelwa Mabasa: So, if you recall, when President Zuma tried to amend the bill in 2014 to extend the deadline for filing claims, that amendment also made provision for a public and accessible land register. Ta. We will be able to tell the people that this is the land that was claimed, this is the land that was given, and this is the land that was given to so-and-so.
Unfortunately, the 2014 amendment bill was subsequently rejected by the Constitutional Court as invalid and illegal as due process was not followed.
Therefore, there is still no register or some kind of audit or public information that would tell the public what the status of land ownership is.
The only thing we know is that once a land claim is investigated and found to be preliminary or prima facie valid, it will be published in the Federal Register, but the Federal Register does not provide information on submitted claims. We will not notify you. Not yet investigated.
In short, the law remains deeply flawed and provides no confidence to the public, landowners, or even land claimants as to who has filed a land claim, and the law remains deeply flawed and does not provide reliable, transparent I don't have a system yet.
Duduzile Ramela: Thank you very much, Bulelwa Mabasa, for your contribution this afternoon. Bulelwa Mabasa is the Head of Land Reform at Worksmans and a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Land Reform. attachment to my land. thank you.
