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.

In the accelerating process of urbanization and social transition era, industrialization, urbanization and construction of urban-rural integration also inevitably leads to the land expropriation, land conflicts have become important issues in the development process.

The preservation, development and sustainable use of agricultural land are of vital importance to ensure longterm food security in South Africa. These principles of food security as well as an integrated, inclusive rural economy underpin the core focus areas of the National Development Plan, Vision 2030 (NDP).

The Department of Land Affairs introduced the Provision of Land and Assistance Amendment Bill and explained that this Bill was intended as an administrative piece of legislation to supplement the provisions of the principal Act. Currently, in terms of that Act, the Department was authorised to acquire land, but was not authorised to acquire the immovable property essential to the proper use of that land – such as irrigation schemes, plant and equipment, farming implements or livestock. Without having those powers, the Department could not fulfil its functions properly.

As a country we need to prioritise the acquisition and development of land for settlement purposes if we are to make any impact on the demand for housing.  Between 1994 and 2014 the South African government provided more than 2.5 million houses and some 1.2 million serviced sites, but the housing backlog nevertheless increased over this same period from 1.5 million to 2.1 million units

Agri SA supported orderly land reform – equitable land distribution is a prerequisite for rural stability and inclusive rural development. Agri-SA believed that expropriation should only be used as a last resort where negotiations fail. There needed to be a clear purpose for expropriation. Compensation should never be dependent on the state’s ability to pay. The land owner should always be afforded recourse to the courts to contest both the merits of the expropriation and the compensation amount.

The Committee was briefed by the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) on the expenditure trends and performance of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) and its entities for 2014/15 and the first quarter of the 2015/16 financial year.

The Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform was briefed by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights (CRLR) on its 2014/15 annual report. The Commission had exceeded its targets by settling 428 new claims against a target of 379; finalising 372 claims against a target of 239; approving 119 projects against a target of 53; researching 1 525 claims against a target of 1 445; establishing 14 operational claims lodgement offices; and acquiring four mobile lodgement offices.

The Ingonyama Trust Board (the Trust) presented its Annual Report for the 2014/2015 financial year. The Trust had committed R6 000 000 for the purchase of tractors to support production on communal land and noted that substantial sums of money were paid out for the benefit of 120 Learners. Employment, HR and vacancy figures were given. The Trust highlighted some performance statistics. In this year, the Board had approved 1 100 tenure rights, falling short of the target of 1 200.

A representative of the Auditor-General South Africa (AGSA) briefed the Committee on the audit outcomes and expenditure patters in the rural development portfolio for the 2014/2015 financial year. The quality of submitted financial statements for the Agricultural Land Holding Account (ALHA) was good but needed improvement. The quality of submitted performance reports for Ingonyama Trust Board (ITB) was good but required intervention from the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR or the Department).

Green energy is expected to be a significant part of the solution to Africa’s energy problems. But what new problems may arise if progress exacts at a high cost? Lake Turkana Wind Power is the largest private investment ever in Kenya, and Danish and international companies and investors have already sunk millions of euros into the project. But they now await a court decision which will determine whether the land on which the turbines will be built was illegally acquired.

Mokoro’s practical and action-oriented long-term strategic research project, the Women’s Land Tenure Security Project (WOLTS), is piloting its methodology through a ‘Study on the threats to women’s land tenure security in Mongolia and Tanzania’.