South Africa reopens land claims process

South Africa has reopened a claims process that compensates black families who were removed from their land under white rule to offer redress to those who failed to meet earlier deadlines, the government said on Monday (30/06/2014).

The government said in a statement President Jacob Zuma has assented to the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act, which among other things amends the cut-off date for lodging a land claim.

“The Act now provides for the re-opening of the lodgement of land claims by those who missed the 31 December 1998 deadline,” the statement said.

The process will run for five years starting from June 30, 2014, it said.

The programme has compensated people or families, usually with a cash sum, who were forcibly driven from their land under the 1913 Natives’ Land Act, which set aside the vast majority of arable land for whites.

The restitution issue is separate from the government’s drive to redistribute farm land to blacks but both policies are aimed at redressing historic wrongs and racial imbalances. - Reuters