By Pfumelani Tsedu
Photo by Humprey Nkgadima
Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development satisfied with land claims presented by CRLR
In the briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development at Parliamentary Village, Polokwane, the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights (CRLR) in Limpopo led by Tele Maphoto, Chief Director Restitution Support outlined the detail and clarity of the status of land claims in the province.
In his report, Maphoto indicated that out of the claims lodged before the cut-off date of December 1998, 5916 land claims have been settled in Limpopo with the outstanding of 1305.
An update was also given on the claims settled per district, a breakdown of the number of outstanding claims in each of the district in the province including the type of settlement, financial compensation, or land restoration. This includes the nature of any constraints, whether budgetary or otherwise faced by the commission in finalizing the outstanding claims.
The solutions that have been implemented or under consideration for addressing such constraints. Detailed report on the number of outstanding old order claims; setting out provincial and district breakdown.
Highlights on the current policy climate and endeavour to address legal matters such as land claims referred to Land Claims Court.
It was stated that the majority of the settled land claims are in the farming and urban areas while the challenges they face with the ones in the rural areas were also outlined.
CRLR gives breakdown of land claims by district to Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development
It was reported that the lodgement and processing of all new order claims has been suspended/ stopped. These are the claims that were lodged during the 2014 reopening of lodgement of claims. The claims have been kept safely until settlement of old claims is completed and it is then that the parliament will give go ahead on the processing of new order claims lodged between 2014 – 2017.
Above all, in 2019, the Commission embarked on “Project Kuyasa” to overhaul and transform the current institution into a performance-oriented, effective, and efficient commission of excellence for faster turnaround time, optimised processes, effective systems, efficient offices and improved customer services.
These highlights give Parliament a roadmap to plan and put intervention where necessary.
