The Nelson Mandela Foundation has filed a legal challenge against the government over what it calls its failure to legally enable citizens equitable access to land.
The application, filed in the Western Cape high court on Thursday, says the “state has failed to discharge, diligently and without delay, its obligation under section 25(5) of the Constitution to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions to enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis”.
It cites the speaker of the National Assembly, the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, the president and the minister of land reform and rural development as respondents.
In the papers, the foundation asked the state and the other parties to “ensure that national legislation is enacted within 18 months” and addresses the definition of “equitable access” to land; how land is to be identified and acquired; how beneficiaries are to be selected and supported; the multiple land uses as well as integration with other elements of land reform.
It says land reform in South Africa is “on a path of policy failure” noting that, in February, President Cyril Ramaphosa said, from an estimated 77.58 million hectares of white-owned farmland in 1994, only 19.3 million hectares or 25% had been redistributed.
The foundation launched the application on Thursday, the 11th anniversary of the death of its patron Nelson Mandela.
The foundation said it considers “the right to equitable access to land and, more broadly, the advancement of land reform, as unfinished business in relation to the legacy of Madiba”.
“It is intolerable that we live in a society in which the benefits and burdens are not equally shared — with a small number of people enjoying the benefits while the majority carry the burdens. Realising section 25(5) of the Constitution can help us correct this injustice,” it added.
Should the state seek to oppose the application, it must do so within 10 days of receipt of the application and deliver its answering affidavit within 15 days, the foundation said.