Summarises papers discussed at an April 2016 symposium on land, law and traditional leadership. Includes land redistribution: tinkering at the edges, tenure insecurity, courting the chiefs, echoes of apartheid, opportunities for enrichment, a way forward
The Committee welcomed the Quarterly Reports as they showed the progress that had been made in dealing with claims. However discomfort was expressed at the pace of restitution. The Committee was very interested in the research aspect of the Commission’s brief.
The Committee met to deal with the two proposed amendments that had been made by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on the Expropriation Bill [B4B-2015]. The first amendment aimed to increase the number of days in which the municipal manager must inform the expropriating authority, in writing, of charges from 20 days to 30 days, if land which had been expropriated is subject to municipal rates.
Policy Statemen the amount f compensation to be paid to a Claimant (that has opted for restitution in the form of financial compensation) that is entitled to restitution shall be determined in accordance with this policy, read the Restitution Act. This policy replaces prior policies on the determination of financial compensation.
The Department achieved 56% of Q4 targets and 50% of Annual Performance Report targets in its Administration programme while annual targets on vacancies filled and disciplinary cases were partially achieved. In Geospatial and Cadastral Services, the Department achieved 77% of its Q4 targets and 69% of its APR targets. The Rural Development programme achieved 71% of its Q4 targets and 86% of its APR targets. The annual target for establishment of rural information desks was not achieved and the target of jobs created was partially achieved.
The Committee was briefed by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) on the performance of Communal Property Associations for March to December 2015. In all, 1 483 Communal Property Associations (CPAs) had been registered since the passing of the Act and 48 were registered in the 2015/16 financial year. The CPAs had been afflicted by a number of problems and the Department had taken steps to address them by the establishment of CPA District Fora to serve as a platform to share experiences.
SALGA supports the amendments on tenure grants although it proposed that the provision of bulk services for alternative land and the delivery of municipal services should also be included in the tenure grant. SALGA supports the amendments as it affects limitations on evictions and additional rights to occupiers. The amendments on the establishment of a land rights management board and land rights management committees are also supported by SALGA. The submission discussed the challenges of evictions and the impacts of this on municipalities in detail.
In order to create credibility and sustainability between policies, to avoid political confusion and to reassure “investor confidence”, a clear agri-food policy package needs to be in place. To achieve this, policy packages should be constructed to give coherence, with an explicit goal and set of objectives, underscoring accountability to delivery. Considering current policy debates, the questions pursued in this paper are: does a clear vision guide existing and emerging agriculture and food policies and are a clear set of measures defined to achieve this vision?
Invasive alien plants have a negative impact on ecosystem goods and services derived from ecosystems. Consequently, the aggressive spread of invasive alien plants (IAPs) in the river catchments of South Africa is a major threat to, inter alia, water security. The Olifants River catchment is one such a catchment that is under pressure because of the high demand for water from mainly industrial sources and unsustainable land-use, which includes IAPs. This study considered the cost-effectiveness of clearing IAPs and compared these with the cost of a recently constructed dam.
Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) is increasingly being promoted as a cost-effective means of adaptation to climate change. However, in spite of considerable international press, there is still little evidence to substantiate this claim. This study proposes a method through which the cost-effectiveness of EbA strategies can be evaluated against alternative adaptation options, and contributes to South African literature on the subject.
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