Undoing the injustices of the past: restitution of rights in land in postapartheid South Africa, with special reference to the North-West Province

Abstract

This article is concerned with the important question of the restitution of rights in land to individuals and communities, dispossessed of such rights under racially discriminatory laws. These laws were buttressed by policies such as “the clearance of blackspots” and “poorly situated areas”, “betterment schemes” and “cancellation of title deeds”. In the process some three and a half million people were forcibly removed from their ancestral lands leading to the notorious statistics where the white population, comprising less than 20% of the country’s total population, owned 87% of the land, leaving 13% to the black peoples. In what is now the North-West Province, the land question was further complicated by the discredited policy of Bantustans. Under this policy, Botswana people were forcibly removed from their ancestral land to form the socalled homeland of Bophuthatswana. South Africa’s history of conquest and dispossession, of forced removals and a racially-skewed distribution of land resources has left a painful legacy. This paper examines the achievements and challenges of the land restitution process since its inception in 1994. It is evident from the discussion below that while the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights has achieved some notable results in this complex and dynamic process, much remains to be done in addressing and overcoming an intricate web of challenges in the delivery process. It is hoped that this discussion will make a modest contribution to the on-going debate about reconciliation, reconstruction and development in post-apartheid South Africa.