NCOP passes the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill in a “special sitting”

On 10 January, the NCOP convened a “special sitting” and passed the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill (TKLB) along with two other Bills. Eight provinces voted in the affirmative, while the Western Cape was the only province that voted against the TKLB.  It is extremely concerning that the NCOP passed the TKLB as it will allow traditional councils to enter into partnerships and agreements relating to development or mining without the consent of the people whose land rights will be affected. In this way TKLB will undermine the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act (IPILRA), which requires consent before anyone is deprived of their informal right to land. Furthermore TKLB will also undermine two recent judgements, in the Maledu and Baleni cases, which ordered that IPILRA be complied with.  Please see a statement by the Stop the Bantustan Bills campaign in response to the Bill being passed by the NCOP.

UCT experts’ participation in the HLP now live

In 2015, an ambitious albeit very important parliamentary process was initiated by the legislature’s Speakers’ Forum: to assess how effective post-1994 legislation has been in contributing to the transformation agenda of the developmental state, and the possible unintended consequences of these laws. This undertaking was led by a high-level panel (HLP) of eminent South Africans, headed by former President Kgalema Motlanthe. The panel produced a lengthy 601-page report that has been in the headlines sporadically since its release in November 2017.

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The problem with the Traditional and Khoi San Leadership Bill (TKLB) as illustrated by the Maledu Constitutional Court judgment

Getting beyond our fascination with corruption to focus on policies and laws that re-entrench structural inequality | November 2018

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Restoring the Dignity of the Landless

The debate about Expropriation without Compensation ignores threats to the property rights of the rural poor contained in bills before Parliament.

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Invitation for Written Submissions: Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill (B23B-2015)

The NCOP Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs has invited stakeholders and interested people to make written submissions on the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill (TKLB). Submissions must be sent to the Committee Secretary, Mr. Thembile Moses Manele, at tmmanele@nullparliament.gov.za. The closing date for submissions is 19 September 2018.

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Mining will not bring jobs to Xolobeni

Through farming, many Amadiba coastal residents are not just surviving, but flourishing. Together with greater potential for integration with ecological integrity, this is the kind of work that should be supported in a climate change world. But the Amadiba are advancing agriculture and eco-tourism with virtually no state support or infrastructure.

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Parliament’s final push on dangerous traditional leadership bills

The recognition of traditional communities in the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill comes with baggage. The “traditional communities” recognised in the TKLB are those previously called “tribes” under colonialism and apartheid. Tribal authorities were established for them in terms of the 1951 Black Authorities Act, and their territories eventually became the Bantustans. Given this context, the passage of both bills through Parliament should be monitored closely.

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Mining – Giving the Power the People

The response by Minerals Minister Gwede Mantashe to two recent judgments about mining and the land rights of people living in the former homelands has been instructive.

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Rural women fight for the right to own ‘their’ land

South Africa’s constitutional watchdog, backed by several brave rural women from KwaZulu-Natal, went to court this week in a bid to stop King Goodwill Zwelithini’s Ingonyama Trust turning land owners into tenants.

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Owners made tenants by the Ingonyama Trust

King Goodwill Zwelithini’s Ingonyama Trust returns just 11 to 16 cents of every R100 it collects in rentals to his luckless tenants for the development and administration of the land they once called their own. He keeps the rest for himself.

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