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Mail & Guardian

Department Of Rural Development And

latest news & developments
Too late: Bhekindlela Mwelase died in November last year, six months before the Constitutional Court dignified his claim to the land that he had worked on as a labour tenant for most of his life. (Max Bastard/African Eyes Photography)
ASSOCIATION FOR RURAL ADVANCEMENT

State’s failures impede land reform

Scathing Constitutional Court judgment bemoans land reform department’s inability to get job done in time

  • Timothy Fish Hodgson
8 min read
Unthinkable occurrence: Angie Motshekga, the minister of basic education, comments on the encouraging results of 2018’s matrics. (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND

Land restitution is an urban issue

It has been largely successful but limited by family fights and an urban land shortage

  • Athandiwe Saba
2 min read
Ida Plaatjies takes Land Reform deputy minister Mcebisi Skwatsha into one of the homes on the Marlenique Estate in Simondium.
BARBARA MAREGELE

Skwatsha: Western Cape could be testing ground for land expropriation

​The deputy minister of rural development and land reform may assist more than 20 000 farm dwellers facing eviction in the Drakenstein municipality

  • Barbara Maregele
4 min read
Nearly a quarter of a century after the end of apartheid
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND

South Africa’s vexed land reform scores a rare success

After a 10-year legal battle, the Moletele have taken back the land from which they were evicted by members of the white minority nearly a century ago

  • Staff Reporter
4 min read
For me, since I’ve been working at the Casual Workers Advice Office, I have been excelling because I haven’t lost a case, said Edgar Mokgola
ANC CAMPAIGN

‘ANC can’t play to the gallery on land issue’ — Mantashe

The land issue has divided senior ANC members, with some, including President Jacob Zuma, calling for the Constitution to be amended.

  • Matuma Letsoalo Author
3 min read
Mkhwebane: I must indicate
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND
Video

South Africa’s land reform efforts lack a focus on struggling farmers

Giving people land and then depriving them of appropriate support to earn a living from the land is regressive

  • Staff Reporter
5 min read
The Hilton College estate is one of the pieces of land that is being demanded back
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND

Labour tenants reach shaky agreement with the department

Mwelase case claimants are adamant about their right to acquire their ancestral land.

  • Raeesa Pather
3 min read
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND

Communities stuck in land ownership battle with govt

The communities of Enon and Bersheba in the Eastern Cape are locked in a stalemate over the transfer of title deeds with the land reform department.

  • Kwanele Sosibo
4 min read
The government’s project to bestow autocratic power upon traditional leaders as a way to govern the former homeland areas has opened up more than a few political
CONGRESS OF TRADITIONAL LEADERS OF

Seven facts about the Restitution of Land Rights Act

Land reform is in the spotlight again after an amendment to 1994’s Restitution of Land Rights Act. Here are seven facts to consider.

  • Kwanele Sosibo
6 min read
The rural development department insists that its land strategy over the next five years will prioritise smallholders
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND

Right of reply: Land policy elitism smear far off track

Land Acquisition Strategy officials have made a habit of peddling disinformation, says department of rural development and land reform’s Hilton Toolo.

  • Hilton Toolo
4 min read
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

Ministers make contradictions on Nkandla

Ministers Gugile Nkwinti and Thulas Nxesi have disagreed with each other over the sale of houses at Nkandla, says a report.

  • Sapa
1 min read
About 1.2-million hectares is unaccounted for in Limpopo, and nearly another million hectares in Mpumalanga. (Reuters)
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND

Up to 21% of land is state owned, says surveyor general

An audit of state-owned land has found at least 14% of the area of South Africa – and perhaps as much as a fifth – is owned by the government.

  • Phillip De Wet
2 min read
‘Brown envelope’ man accused again
BROWN ENVELOPE SCANDAL

‘Brown envelope’ man accused again

Northern Cape locals claim Joe Aranes is sowing discord to benefit his employer.

  • Niren Tolsi
8 min read
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND

Possible limit on sale of land to foreigners

Government may put restrictions on the sale of land to foreigners as it aims to transfer ownership as part of a drive to correct racial imbalances.

  • Staff Reporter
2 min read
DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND

Changes in foreign ownership of SA land

The department of rural development and land reform has said that foreigners will not be able to own land without the consent of local communities.

  • Staff Reporter
1 min read