Parliament, Tuesday, 20 October 2020 – The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development today continued with deliberations on the amendments to the Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Amendment Bill and the consideration of the A list.
The Chairperson of the committee, Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, said: “There were still questions about Sections 19 and 20 insofar as it relates to the applicability of these sections to the entire Republic of South Africa. I want to reiterate that a decision to reject amendments relating to section 25A, that is clause 4 of the Amendment Bill, and to focus on technical amendments emanating from the Rahube versus Rahube judgement was a decision of the committee.”
The decision was arrived at after a series of engagements within the committee, with stakeholders and with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. In those deliberations, according to Nkosi Mandela, the committee took into consideration the following factors:
Members of the public called for constitutional safeguards and protections for informal land rights alongside making sections 3, 19 and 20 applicable to the entire country. The department reported that such protections and communal land tenure issues would be provided for in the Communal Land Tenure Bill.
That the department further informed the committee that the Communal Land Tenure Bill would be introduced in Parliament during the 2020/21 year. Nkosi Mandela said it does not make sense to agree on clause 4 in the manner the clause is introduced if there is a parallel process to introduce new legislation that comprehensively addresses the concerns raised.
Nkosi Mandela said if the committee was to effect the changes that could be triggered by activation of Section 19 and 20 in the former homeland areas, the committee would miss the Constitutional Court’s deadline (given that an extension had already been granted).
There was no order of court compelling Parliament to do anything with sections 3, 19 and 20 of the principal Act, hence a decision to focus on the instructions of the Constitutional Court order.
The committee received draft amendments today that are referred to as the A list of the Bill. Members paid attention to the text and the meaning of the draft amendments to ensure that the principles agreed upon during committee deliberations were adequately provided for.
With the exception of members representing the Economic Freedom Fighters, the committee deliberated on the amendments, paying close attention to certain clauses as directed by the Constitution Court, and adopted the A list. The A list will be converted into a B list by the legal team and will be up for discussion and deliberation at the next meeting of the committee.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, LAND REFORM AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT, NKOSI ZWELIVELILE MANDELA.
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Name: Sureshinee Govender
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E-mail: sugovender@parliament.gov.za
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