Africa-Press – South-Africa. The SA Human Rights Commission will probe the DA’s claims that the government delayed land reform by not distributing rural communal land held under trusts.
The DA alleges that the ANC failed to implement the legislative mechanism allowing land held under trusts to be transferred back to rural communities.
News24 previously reported that the DA had received documents from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, which showed hectares of land held under trusts were yet to be transferred to rural communities.
The DA stressed in its public messaging that the land remained titled under old apartheid ministerial departments such as the “minister of native affairs” and “government of Transkei”.
The land is distributed across the country in areas such as Limpopo, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development previously told News24 that the land being questioned by the DA was communal land and could not easily be issued as title deeds.
READ: Land reform dept denies delaying transfer of apartheid-era title deeds to rural communities
The department also stated that the land was held under government ownership because no legislation currently existed to transfer land held in trusts by the government to rural communities.
The department said that the Land Tenure Bill, which is currently before Parliament, was intended to resolve this issue. The bill has been controversial in the views of land activists because it gives rural leaders more power than the communities.
The DA says the bill was not enough, with the party approaching the SAHRC claiming the government violated rural communities’ rights.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said the SAHRC had the duty to protect rural communities.
Steenhuisen said on Friday at the SAHRC’s Johannesburg offices:
The DA opposed the ANC’s efforts in Parliament to amend the Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.
In September, the National Assembly passed the Expropriation Bill amid much contention from opposition political parties, including the DA.
The chairperson of the SAHRC, Bongani Majola, said on Friday, that following a meeting with the DA lasting several hours, the commission would probe the claims.
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