Claims lodged in 1998 must be prioritised
The Constitutional Court has ordered the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights to prioritise land claims lodged in 1998 over those lodged between July 2014 and July 2016. A Cape Times report notes Parliament recently failed to enact a new Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act, and the top court yesterday dismissed an application by the Speaker of the National Assembly and the chairperson of the NCOP for an extension of an interdict against the processing of claims lodged between 2014 and 2016, pursuant to drafting a new land claims Act.
The Restitution Act of 1994 had provided that all claims had to be lodged by December 1998. About 80 000 claims were lodged but by 2014, more than 20 000 had not yet been finalised.
Later that year, Parliament enacted the now repealed Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act, which had allowed new claims to be lodged until June 2019.
The Land Access Movement of SA challenged the constitutionality of the repealed Amendment Act on two grounds: that the NCOP and the provincial legislatures breached section 72(1)(a) of the Constitution by failing to ‘facilitate public involvement’ in the passing of the Bill that preceded the repealed Amendment Act; and that Section 6(1)(g) of the Restitution Act was vague.
Speaker of the National Assembly and Another v Land Access Movement of SA and Others
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
