His proposed law will prohibit foreign ownership of land in South Africa. Foreign nationals will then only be allowed lease land for a minimum of 30 years. The bill is expected to also regulate the amount of land that foreign individuals may own (12,000 hectares- that’s about as large as two average size farms – not Karoo farms). If you are above this limit, the government will “buy” the excess land and redistribute it.
But why the need for this?
- Zuma feels he needs to secure SA’s limited land for food security and address the land injustice of more than 300 years of colonialism and apartheid. 45% of the population (23 million South Africans) live on or below the poverty. 58% of these poverty stricken people are in rural areas.
- Zuma needs access to more land for households and rural entrepreneurs and enterprises to address equity and poverty.
- Many high value agricultural land has had its use changed to luxury and leisure uses and environmentally sensitive land has been inappropriately developed.
- In some parts of the country escalations in prices have been experienced, which have made land in these areas inaccessible to citizens.
Here is the long (and short) of the proposed bill:
- Foreign nationals and juristic persons are understood as non-citizens as well as juristic persons whose dominant share holder or controller is a foreign controlled enterprise, entity or interest. Hence not all immigrants to South Africa will be excluded from land ownership.
- This category of foreign nationals that are non-citizens will not be able to own land in freehold from the time the policy is passed into law. They will be allowed a long term lease of 30 to 50 years.
- It is recognised that this cannot apply retrospectively without constitutional infringements and as such those who have already acquired freehold would not have their tenure changed by the passing of the proposed law.
However, in such instances the right of first refusal will apply in favour of another South African citizen in freehold or the state if the land is deemed strategic. - Furthermore, environmentally and security sensitive lands as well as those that are of historic and cultural significance, and strategic lands (for land reform and socio-economic development) will be classified by law and land ownership by foreign nationals (non-citizens) in these areas will be discouraged.
- The policy will be affected through a call for compulsory land holdings disclosures. These disclosures will be in terms of race, nationality, gender, extent of land owned and its use. The process will be managed through a Land Commission, established, amongst others, to call for these disclosures, collect and assess the information and maintain it in collaboration with the national deeds registry.
- The proposed policy makes provisions for exemptions to access lands in classified areas based on certain conditions, primarily developmental.
