Court ruling clarifies the land rights of individuals

The recent judgment against the Ingonyama Trust with regard to traditional land rights has far-reaching implications for South Africa. Wouter Kriel reports.

- Wouter Kriel

The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg recently ruled that the Ingonyama Trust had erred when it forced tenants to convert their traditional permission-to-occupy (PTO) rights into leases on their ancestral land.

The court ordered all rent collected be repaid to the claimants, and that their PTO rights be restored until such time as their rights to the land could be formalised, for which the minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (agriculture department) is ultimately held responsible.

Dr Aninka Claassens, chief researcher at the University of Cape Town’s Land and Accountability Research Centre (LARC), said during a recent webinar that the judgment had far-reaching implications for all South Africans living in former homelands, and highlighted the concept of custodianship, which is currently being used in the debate on the proposed changes to Section 25 of the Constitution.

She expressed her disappointment about the Ingonyama Trust appealing the ruling, especially since Thoko Didiza, minister of the agriculture department, had already instructed the trust and her department to put the ruling into effect.

“On whose authority is this appeal being lodged?” she asked.

SIMILAR COURT ACTIONS

Claassens said this ruling opened the door for similar court actions where people believed their traditional property rights were being disrespected.