Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform

Mpho Ts’episo Tlale

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20

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Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform

Mpho Ts’episo Tlale

Published in International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 5, Issue 2)

Received: 26 April 2022 Accepted: 19 May 2022 Published: 16 June 2022

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Abstract

This paper seeks to determine whether customary land tenure insecurity can be diminished by adopting sound land administration practices. In doing so, the link between a good land administration system and land tenure reform is established. This investigation is particularly probed by the Advisory Panel Report’s recommendation to adopt land administration as a forth tier to land reform. The paper investigates whether land administration reform can save the sinking ship of land reform. Against this background, the first part of this article briefly analyses the two types of tenure in South Africa namely, statutory and customary tenure. The intention is to compare the two and substantiate that although they are two sides of the same coin, customary tenure suffers insecurity while statutory tenure is hailed for its efficacy globally. A further examination of the principles of good land administration is carried out to determine how the South African customary tenure fares in sound land administration principles. Subsequently, possible avenues that can at the very least, offer some degree of tenure security are explored. In this regard, a hybrid system of land administration that involves titles and record keeping in customary areas to improve tenure of security is recommended. These suggestions rest on the hypothesis that with good land administration, customary tenure reform and in turn security, is achievable. Finally, further research on customary land administration within the South African context is recommended.

Published in	International Journal of Law and Society (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20
Page(s)	217-225
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Land Administration, Customary Land Tenure, Tenure Security

References

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[3]	Banda, J. (2011). Romancing Customary Tenure in Fenrich, J., Galizzi, P., & Higgins, T. E. (eds) The Future of African customary law (Cambridge, University Press) p 314.
[4]	Barry, M. & Kingwill R. (2020). Evaluating the community land record system in Monwabisi Park informal settlement in the context of hybrid governance and organisational culture. Land 9 (124) p 15.
[5]	Bourblanc, M. & Anseeuw, W. (2019). Explaining South Africa’s land reform policy failure through its instruments: the emergence of inclusive agricultural business models. Journal of Contemporary African Studies 37 (2-3) pp 191-207.
[6]	Burns, T., Grant, C, Nettle, K. Brits, A. M. & Dalrymple, K. (2006). Land Administration Reform: Indicators of Success, Future Challenges (Australia, Land Equity) p 7.
[7]	Delius, P. & Beinart, W. (2017). Securing the Land: From customary land tenure to registered titled land?’ in Beinart, W., Delius, P. & Hay, M. (eds) Rights to Land: A Guide to Tenure Upgrading and Restitution in South Africa (Johannesburg, Jacana Media) p 84.
[8]	Kitchin, F. & Ovens, W. (2013). Land Governance in South Africa. Retrieved from https://cutt.ly/snj2tX58 on 27 May 2021.
[9]	Final Report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture. (2019). Retrieved from https://cutt.ly/EnjNURv on 20 May 2021.
[10]	Gignoux, J., Macours, K. & Wren-Lewis, L. (2013). Evaluating the impact of Land Administration Programs on agricultural productivity and rural development (Paris, Inter-American Development Bank) p 2.
[11]	Green paper on Land Reform. (2011). Retrieved from https://cutt.ly/unjBPPB retrieved 29 May 2021.
[12]	Hoorn, M. & September-Van Huffel, A. L. (2021). Land Court Bill: A step in the right direction for land reform. Retrieved from https://cutt.ly/VnJgnAh on 12 April 2021.
[13]	Hull, S. & Whittal, J. (2018). Addressing shortcomings of land tenure reform in customary land rights. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323336403_Addressing_shortcomings_of_land_tenure_reform_in_customary_land_rights on 12 May 2021.
[14]	Hull, S., Sehume, T., Sibiya, S., Sothafile, L. & Whittal, J. (2016). Land allocation, boundary demarcation and tenure security in tribal areas of South Africa. South African Journal of Geomatics 5 (1) p 65.
[15]	Humby, L. & Whittal, J. (2017). 3D Cadastral Parcels in South Africa representing the third dimension in the South African cadastral system. Retrieved from https://cutt.ly/SnQddSe on 04 June 2021.
[16]	Pienaar, G. J. (2011). Land Information. Acta Juridica p 241.
[17]	Pienaar, J. M. (2014). Land Reform (Cape Town, Juta & Co.) p 380.
[18]	Report of the High-Level Panel on The Assessment of Key Legislation and the Acceleration of Fundamental Change. (2017). retrieved from https://cutt.ly/RnjBuQh on 20 May 2021.
[19]	Roth, D. & Haase, M. (1998). Land tenure security and agricultural performance in Southern Africa. Retrieved from https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnacl422.pdf on12 May 2021.
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[22]	Tlale, M. T. (2022). The South African customary land tenure (in)security: Is there hope under the Communal Land Tenure Bill?” 85 THRHR p 59. Tlale, M. T. (2020). Conflicting Levels of

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Mpho Ts’episo Tlale. (2022). Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform. International Journal of Law and Society, 5(2), 217-225. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20

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ACS Style

Mpho Ts’episo Tlale. Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform. Int. J. Law Soc. 2022, 5(2), 217-225. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20

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AMA Style

Mpho Ts’episo Tlale. Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform. Int J Law Soc. 2022;5(2):217-225. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20,
  author = {Mpho Ts’episo Tlale},
  title = {Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {5},
  number = {2},
  pages = {217-225},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20220502.20},
  abstract = {This paper seeks to determine whether customary land tenure insecurity can be diminished by adopting sound land administration practices. In doing so, the link between a good land administration system and land tenure reform is established. This investigation is particularly probed by the Advisory Panel Report’s recommendation to adopt land administration as a forth tier to land reform. The paper investigates whether land administration reform can save the sinking ship of land reform. Against this background, the first part of this article briefly analyses the two types of tenure in South Africa namely, statutory and customary tenure. The intention is to compare the two and substantiate that although they are two sides of the same coin, customary tenure suffers insecurity while statutory tenure is hailed for its efficacy globally. A further examination of the principles of good land administration is carried out to determine how the South African customary tenure fares in sound land administration principles. Subsequently, possible avenues that can at the very least, offer some degree of tenure security are explored. In this regard, a hybrid system of land administration that involves titles and record keeping in customary areas to improve tenure of security is recommended. These suggestions rest on the hypothesis that with good land administration, customary tenure reform and in turn security, is achievable. Finally, further research on customary land administration within the South African context is recommended.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform
AU - Mpho Ts’episo Tlale
Y1 - 2022/06/16
PY - 2022
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20
DO - 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20
T2 - International Journal of Law and Society
JF - International Journal of Law and Society
JO - International Journal of Law and Society
SP - 217
EP - 225
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2640-1908
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20
AB - This paper seeks to determine whether customary land tenure insecurity can be diminished by adopting sound land administration practices. In doing so, the link between a good land administration system and land tenure reform is established. This investigation is particularly probed by the Advisory Panel Report’s recommendation to adopt land administration as a forth tier to land reform. The paper investigates whether land administration reform can save the sinking ship of land reform. Against this background, the first part of this article briefly analyses the two types of tenure in South Africa namely, statutory and customary tenure. The intention is to compare the two and substantiate that although they are two sides of the same coin, customary tenure suffers insecurity while statutory tenure is hailed for its efficacy globally. A further examination of the principles of good land administration is carried out to determine how the South African customary tenure fares in sound land administration principles. Subsequently, possible avenues that can at the very least, offer some degree of tenure security are explored. In this regard, a hybrid system of land administration that involves titles and record keeping in customary areas to improve tenure of security is recommended. These suggestions rest on the hypothesis that with good land administration, customary tenure reform and in turn security, is achievable. Finally, further research on customary land administration within the South African context is recommended.
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Author Information

Mpho Ts’episo Tlale

Department of Public Law, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

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APA Style

Mpho Ts’episo Tlale. (2022). Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform. International Journal of Law and Society, 5(2), 217-225. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20

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ACS Style

Mpho Ts’episo Tlale. Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform. Int. J. Law Soc. 2022, 5(2), 217-225. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20

Copy | Download

AMA Style

Mpho Ts’episo Tlale. Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform. Int J Law Soc. 2022;5(2):217-225. doi: 10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20

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@article{10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20,
  author = {Mpho Ts’episo Tlale},
  title = {Land Issues in South Africa: Can Land Administration Save the Sinking Ship of Land Reform},
  journal = {International Journal of Law and Society},
  volume = {5},
  number = {2},
  pages = {217-225},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijls.20220502.20},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijls.20220502.20},
  abstract = {This paper seeks to determine whether customary land tenure insecurity can be diminished by adopting sound land administration practices. In doing so, the link between a good land administration system and land tenure reform is established. This investigation is particularly probed by the Advisory Panel Report’s recommendation to adopt land administration as a forth tier to land reform. The paper investigates whether land administration reform can save the sinking ship of land reform. Against this background, the first part of this article briefly analyses the two types of tenure in South Africa namely, statutory and customary tenure. The intention is to compare the two and substantiate that although they are two sides of the same coin, customary tenure suffers insecurity while statutory tenure is hailed for its efficacy globally. A further examination of the principles of good land administration is carried out to determine how the South African customary tenure fares in sound land administration principles. Subsequently, possible avenues that can at the very least, offer some degree of tenure security are explored. In this regard, a hybrid system of land administration that involves titles and record keeping in customary areas to improve tenure of security is recommended. These suggestions rest on the hypothesis that with good land administration, customary tenure reform and in turn security, is achievable. Finally, further research on customary land administration within the South African context is recommended.},
 year = {2022}
}

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