Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development Mzwanele Nyhontso
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Nyhontso inherited a backlog of just over 5 700 land claims from 1998 and a further 130 000 that were lodged in 2014 with the ministry, which was paired with agriculture up until May 2024.
In January, he said declining budgets meant that he could not set a targeted date to settle all outstanding land claims. This means that land restitution will not be completed by 2030, which was one of the developmental targets of the National Development Plan, although the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights finalised 378 land claims against a target of 339 from April 2024 to March 2025.
The restitution sub-programme in 2024/25 recorded significant underspending, reportedly R564.3 million less than budgeted. Nyhontso engaged directly with Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini in March about the challenges facing the Ingonyama Trust Board and on the instructions of the monarch established a 12-member committee to investigate the Ingonyama Trust’s operations.
The minister now finds himself tangled in controversy after making his intentions clear to suspend the board.