Falsified Land Claims Process

30 January 2005

The Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform and the Regional Land Claims Commission have learned with great dismay of the shady work of some individuals sourcing monies from would-be-claimants whilst purporting to be ‘consultants’ of the commission. The towns that have been targeted by these unscrupulous characters include; Upington, Petrusville, Warrenton, Colesburg and De Aar. We are appealing to our communities not to fall prey to the shenanigans and ills of people who are undermining a noble process of government.     

We wish to advise communities that land restitution claims were only allowed to be lodged up until the 31st of December 1998 as per the Restitution Act 22 of 1994. Any other person claiming to act on behalf of the Commission in sourcing land claims is guilty of violating the constitution and is running the risk of being incriminated.

Communities are urged to refrain from paying any person fees for their claims to be accepted or even processed. Residents that have paid fees to such persons must lay fraud charges with their local law enforcement officers such as the police.  

South Africa’s restitution process is a statutory requirement that falls outside the jurisdiction of the concerned provincial governments. It is only the State President and Parliament that can consider an amendment to the Restitution Act.

We have also noted that there were instances of communities being deliberately misled around the announcement of the settlement of all restitution claims by the end of December 2005. The President’s announcement was based on the settlement of claims that were lodged before the cut-off-date of 31st December 1998.

It remains the responsibility of the Regional Land Claims Commission in ensuring that all persons that were forcibly removed from ancestral land and urban sites should be fully restituted or compensated by the end of 31 December 2005.

Enquiries: Thabo Mothibi – 083 255 8840

Source    : Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reform