The Free State’s Regional Land Claims Commissioner Office is conducting a roadshow to update and inform claimants on the status of claims lodged.
The programme, dubbed “Know the Status of Your Land Claim”, is reaching across different municipalities started yesterday, Tuesday.
It started in the Thabo Mofutsanyana
District Municipality. The roadshow forms part of the national campaign of the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, informing and engaging beneficiaries on progress made by the commission since its inception. All community members
who lodged land claims with the Office of the Regional Land Claims Commission
and those who still want to lodge claims are encouraged to attend and get first-hand
information from officials of the Commission.
According to Lengane Bogatsu, provincial acting chief director for the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, 3 083 claims were lodged in the province between 1994 and the deadline of 31 December 1998. These are referred to as the old order claims.
“To date, 3 075 claims have been settled, and there are currently eight outstanding claims,” said Bogatsu.
He said in 2014 the president signed into legislation a law that brought about the reopening of the process to lodge land claims for people who had missed the deadline in December 1998.
The deadline was then extended to 30 June 2019.
“The process was suspended after the validity of the Amendment Act was challenged in the Constitutional Court, after it had been found the Amendment Act was invalid due to insufficient public consultations by parliament, as required by the Constitution.”
Bogatsu said the roadshow was aimed at getting all affected stakeholders involved, and informing communities about the progress of the land claim process.
“This is a free government service; you do not pay anyone, including officials of the state or Commission on Restitution of Land Rights,” he confirmed.
