Chief Land Claims Commissioner Tozi Gwanya has dismissed claims that government was prioritising foreign investors over local claimants.

Speaking at the launch of a report on the progress of land restitutions in Kwazulu-Natal, Gwanya dismissed the claims but added that there needed to be a balance between reform and development.

“We have continuously put the interests of our people first, but at the same time there needs to be development taking place.”

Land rights groups have welcomed the release of the report which indicates that the province was on track to address 1121 of the 1868 claims received there by the commission.

Organisations such as the KwaZulu-Natal Agriculture Union and the Pietermaritzburg-based Association For Rural Advancement applauded the report saying it was in accordance with the principles of transparency.

The Mgungundlovu district which covers the Natal Midlands area has 332 claims, and the department expects that 199 will be settled by next year.

The remaining 747 claims are expected to be concluded by 2008, but according to Mr Gwanya a number of challenges remain. Among these is lack of skills among the claimants. Mr Gwanya challenged NGOs to play their part in skills development to ensure that land was used productively. He urged NGOs to help in the provision of skills to new claimants so that development and proper use of land by claimants could be effected. “We need closer interaction so that we can devise better plans which have positive bearing on the economy and the people, NGOs are our partners and we hope they can play their part,” said the commissioner.

Also attending the launch was Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs, Dirk Du Toit, who applauded strides made in the province adding that it was setting an example in the land reform process. The deputy minister recently visited a number of farms that were recently given back to their former owners in Ladysmith and Dundee where he got first hand information from the beneficiaries of the process.

Another challenge in the land reform process was resistance from current land owners, recently prompting Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulama Xingwana to pledge the department would "deal drastically" with landowners who deliberately delayed the process.

Minister Xingwana made the pledge last month while visiting the North West's Land Commission which reported that landowners generally challenged the validity of claims and refused commission officials access to the land for inspection.

Also last month, Minister Xingwana said out of 79 000 land claims lodged nationally since 1998, more than 71 000 had been completed and only 10 percent remained unresolved.

In his state of the Nation Address in February, President Thabo Mbeki reiterated the critical role of land reform and land restitution in the transformation of South African society. He said the state would play a more central role in the land reform programme, ensuring that the restitution programme was accelerated, further contributing to Mbeki said during this year, the Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs would: * review the willing-buyer willing-seller policy;
* review land acquisition models and possible manipulation of land prices; and * regulate conditions under which foreigners buy land. This would be done in line with international norms and practices.

The Minister and the Department were to also ensure that the land redistribution programme was aligned to the Provincial Growth and Development Strategies as well as the Integrated Development Plans of municipalities, as well as attend to the proper use of the funds that made available for the productive utilisation of the land, he said. - BuaNews