land management

The Minister’s speech comes with no surprises as we are all aware of the global economic crisis that did not spare South Africa, resulting in a recession. However, the Minister can only do what can be done, especially when we look at the growing budget deficit which is envisaged to continue growing in the next 3 years, hitting the R1.3 trillion mark before it slows down. It is a well balanced budget that needs to be commended.

Homeless people in South Africa are caught between a ‘shack’ and an ‘RDP’ house. If they take matters into their own hands by invading and occupying land illegally, they face the prospect of eviction with nowhere else to stay.

It is good news that Tokyo Sexwale and Helen Zille have decided to bury the hatchet on the petty squabbling between the African National Congress (ANC) and Democratic Alliance (DA) (largely, let it be said, initiated by the ANC) over the N2 Gateway project and land allocation in the province.

The spat has hampered housing delivery in the province. We are now told “the three spheres of government are to sit around one table to decide on the future of the project.” (‘Sexwale, Zille and city to decide on N2 Gateway’, August 10).

President Jacob Zuma says his government is exploring alternative means of acquiring land following complaints about the willing-buyer-willing-seller policy preferred by the state since 1994.

“Land is linked to development in rural areas. We have recognised that, in order to move forward decisively with the land redistribution programme, significant changes have to be made to the willing-buyer-willing-seller model of land redistribution,” argues Zuma.

South African rural women protesting outside the ICC in Durban at The World Congress of Rural Women

The Department of Land Affairs says it has already taken steps to address weaknesses in its financial controls that resulted in a qualified audit from the auditor-general for a string of irregularities.

In a press statement, the department’s director-general, Thozi Gwanya, stated that the discrepancies arose because time differences between the date of payment and date of registration on the land database had led to duplicated entries.

The Department of Land Affairs says it has already taken steps to address weaknesses in its financial controls that resulted in a qualified audit from the auditor-general for a string of irregularities.