Land allocation, boundary demarcation and tenure security in tribal areas of South Africa

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Exploring some of the complexities of planning on ‘communal land’ in the former Transkei

“…What this sociopolitical order then establishes is not a property right over a specific parcel of land, but rather a set of reciprocal rights and obligations that bind together and confer power over land in community members (Winkler & Duminy, 2016). Reciprocal and obligatory rights are understood as a continuous performance and not as a finite action, as found in Western landownership laws (Bennett, 2004;Hull et al, 2016). This continuous performance of reciprocal and obligatory rights determines who may have access to land and its associated resources.…”

“…The bulk of the remaining land within the Transkeian territories was classified as 'communal tenure' under the 1879 Act. A considerable portion of this land was never surveyed, and it remains unsurveyed to this day (Hull et al, 2016 (Mager & Velelo, 2018). Rather, it delineated a 'tribal' authority's area of political jurisdiction and granted this authority some land-administration duties (Delius, 2008).…”

“…Neither they nor traditional leaders officially own the land. As residents of 'communal' landholdings occupy and use land under a system of rights that is conveyed through oral traditions, this land is neither documented nor registered under the formal cadastre (Hull, Sehume, Sibiya, Sothafile & Whittal, 2016). Residents are, therefore, not formally recognised as legal land-rights holders; hence, their tenure insecurity.…”

“…Instead, the state seems to be influenced by global trends and the policies of multilateral organisations that have turned their focus to urbanisation and the unprecedented growth of cities in the global South via programmes including the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda. While an 2 As explained by Hull et al (2016), rural land administration encompasses four main components, namely the allocation of land parcels to potential rights-holders; demarcating land boundaries; the legal mechanisms used to solve land boundary and land-use conflicts, and establishing land tenure security as a result of the outcomes of the first three components.…”

“…Within these 'communal' landholdings, conditional tenure permits were issued to residents via Permission to Occupy (PTO) certificates (Hawkins & Associates, 1980). PTO certificates entailed, and continue to entail, only a use right, thereby making PTOs a less secure form of tenure than freehold or quitrent tenure rights (Hull et al, 2016). 3 Furthermore, 80% of the total land mass of the former Transkei remains designated as 'communal land', despite a quarter of a century of post-apartheid governance (Coleman, 2018; cf.…”