Share

Govt slammed for delaying land claims

Cape Town – The Department of Rural Development has failed to meet its deadlines in processing land claims by labour tenants across the country, according to the Legal Resources Centre.

LRC attorney Thabiso Mbense told Fin24 that the Minister of the Department of Rural Development and the Director-General failed to comply with an order made by the Land Claims court on June 9 2015.

The LRC has criticised the department’s “repeated failure” to meet deadlines which, in its view, “jeopardises trust between our clients and the department”.

The LRC has approached the court to appoint a ‘special master’ to assist the court and the department “in overcoming what appears to be an institutional failure”.

The court order compelled the department to file a report and plan for the processing of labour tenant claims for land under the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act 3 of 1996.

“Under the act, those living on farms could lodge claims,” said Mbense, adding that 22 000 labour tenants submitted claims.

The LRC was representing the Association for Rural Advancement (Afra), and four labour tenants residing on the farm owned by Hilton College in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

Mbense said, however, that the LRC was launching a class action suit and that the court order affected all labour tenants who made claims before the cut-off date of 31 March 2001.

According to the court order the department’s second report and action plan was due on October 30 2015, but no report has been delivered to the LRC to date.

This was the second time that the department failed to comply with the court order, said the LRC.

The department provided its first interim report and plan on August 4 2015, 4 days after the July 31 due date.

The Department of Rural Development spokesperson Sipho Dlamini told Fin24 that since the matter was in court the department could not comment.


We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
18.97
-0.3%
Rand - Pound
23.97
-0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.48
-0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.36
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.4%
Platinum
907.94
+1.2%
Palladium
1,014.30
+1.3%
Gold
2,215.39
+0.9%
Silver
24.91
+1.1%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,346
+1.0%
All Share
74,536
+0.9%
Resource 10
57,251
+2.9%
Industrial 25
103,936
+0.6%
Financial 15
16,502
-0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders