Notice: Data extracts from Land Reform Report

This page lists extracts related to (open) data, indicators and tech from the recommendations chapter of the 2019 Final Report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture. See the Spatial data resources section for tools and data you can use on this topic.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION

"1. CONSOLIDATED INTEGRATED PLANNING AND LAND INFORMATION SYSTEM" including "a single, national data portal (Land Repository or Observatory) for all land related information as the first step towards developing infrastructure for the ultimate integration, holding and maintaining of all land rights records ... begin to populate an integrated land e-cadastre with all other land-based information contained in separate government registers (water rights, land claims, mineral rights etc.)" p.77

"4. DEVELOPMENT OF A PROACTIVE TARGETED LAND ACQUISITION AND ALLOCATION PROGRAMME" including "Land identification needs to consider data and spatial planning frameworks, as well as the criteria established in participatory planning, including the location, water availability, soil types, infrastructure and other features of the land" p.78

"...updating relevant foundational datasets [related to land suitability, capability, as well as grazing capacity] through research and monitoring programme tools (including maps)" p.79

"some relevant initiatives like the Strategic Land Locator based on objective criteria such as quality of land, access to water, bulk and other infrastructure" p.79

RECOMMENDATIONS TO REFOCUS LAND REFORM POLICY

"TENURE REFORM: RECOGNISING DIVERSE TENURE SYSTEMS AND RIGHTS" including "Tenure reform must build a unitary non-racial system of land rights for all South Africans, with a system of land registration, support, and administration which accommodates flexible and diverse systems of land rights within a unitary framework." p.87

"The process should draw on lessons from experiments and pilots already underway in South Africa and in other African countries. These include low-cost technologies and blockchain options that will over time enable locallyregistered rights to be subject to arbitration and reflected in the Deeds Registry" p.87

"The Land Records Bill should provide for local and accessible recordal of existing land rights" p.87

"URBAN LAND REFORM: INCLUSIVE CITIES WITH EQUITABLE AND SECURE ACCESS TO LAND" including "Proactive measures: audit and redistribute welllocated vacant, underutilised or inefficiently used urban land and buildings ... Responsive measures: respond to informal settlements and inner city occupations where land or property is already settled by recording off-register, less ‘formal’ rights rights (through the use of technology to map these) and providing occupiers with proof of residence" p.88

"Tenure reform: unlock urban state land for affordable housing .... (a) A comprehensive audit of urban state land and buildings, including a mapping and tracking of underutilised and vacant land and buildings" & "Make state land disposal more transparent" & "address urban tenure insecurity and displacement: ... (l) Use of technology to map and recognise alternative, less formal rights" p.89

"Set up an integrated land information system (‘Land Repository’ or ‘Land Observatory’) supported by a national data infrastructure to enable compatibility and consolidation of all land-related data, including land rights records ... integrated land tenure information system and data management system capable of recording all legitimate land rights in a way that recognises and accommodates normative diversity and a continuum of rights." p.91

RECOMMENDATIONS TOWARDS A CONSOLIDATED LAND REFORM POLICY FRAMEWORK

"Land Identification and Acquisition: ... To identify specific land parcels ... will require mapping exercises that should be inclusive of the intended beneficiaries, taking into account the availability of water, relevant infrastructure and other factors ... This local land reform plan should be embedded in Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), reviewed regularly, and be publicly available as maps" p.94

"Land donations: ... To expedite large donations from big institutional owners, we propose that the President call on the churches, mining companies, financial institutions, agribusinesses and others, to audit their own landholdings and identify their size, location, land use, as well as any long-term occupiers on these lands." p.95

"Tenure reform: ... the panel recommends a Land Records Bill to enable the majority of citizens, who hold property ‘off-register’, to record and register their property – including residents of informal settlements, farm dwellers, labour tenants residents of communal areas, and others ... This process should draw on lessons from experiments and pilots already underway in South Africa and in other African countries, including low-cost technologies and block-chain options that will over time enable locally-registered rights to be subject to arbitration and reflected in the Deeds Registry." p.96

"Foreign Owned Land: ... land ownership audit; compulsory land ownership disclosures with registrations of titles similar to FICA legislation" p.96

"Municipal Commonage: ... Each SDF should identify all land owned by municipalities and its current use; investigate and make publicly available information about the status and leasing out of commonage land (including duration and rent paid to the municipality) ... IDPs should identify and list people seeking access to commonage for grazing and for cultivation allotments and prioritise projects, indicating where and for what purpose additional commonage can be acquired." p.96

"Farm Dwellers: ... the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (future Department of Land Affairs) urgently create an application system for farm dwellers to upgrade their tenure and expand their land occupation" p.97

"Labour Tenants: The department must finalise its database of applications and prepare a proper, time-bound, costed and publicly available plan for implementation of the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act 3 of 1996." p.97

"Land Audit: 25 years into democratic rule, there remains incomplete information regarding the question of who owns what land in South Africa. The panel therefore recommends that the minister for DRDLR engage with the Deeds Registry and Department of Public Works, and existing private sector-driven audits, e.g. the Agri-Development Solutions (ADS) audit, among others, to determine whether a national audit of both public and privately-owned land is feasible. There must be a determination of what mechanisms can be put in place so that this information can be regularly updated, disaggregated geographically and made publicly available." p.97

"Corruption: ... selection and allocation processes must be more transparent and there must be greater openness and accountability as to how these decisions were arrived at." p.98

"Develop outcome indicators for land reform monitoring and evaluation: Government will work with other stakeholders to define what constitutes ‘success’ for different land reform objectives and identify ‘outcomes indicators.’ This will be the basis for the Department to reconstitute its monitoring and evaluation system, including baseline surveys of beneficiaries, longitudinal monitoring over time, and a control group of people who are not part of the land reform programme. A single national land classification system will need to be developed for the whole country; agricultural data collection improved to include production in communal areas and in land reform in the agricultural census and annual statistics; and multiplier effects of land reform on the local economy must be evaluated." p.99