White Paper

FOREWORD

Land ownership in South Africa has long been a source of conflict. Our history of conquest and dispossession, of forced removals and a racially-skewed distribution of land resources, has left us with a complex and difficult legacy. To address the consequences of this legacy, the drafters of the South African Constitution included the following three clauses:

‘ A person or community dispossessed of property after 19 June 1913 as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices is entitled, to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to restitution of that property, or to equitable redress.

‘ The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis.

‘ A person or community whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices is entitled, to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to tenure which is legally secure, or to comparable redress.

 

The three key elements of the land reform programme - restitution, redistribution and tenure reform - address each of these constitutional requirements.

The policy set out in this document arises primarily