Description
Both state land (land under the control of the Departments of Rural Development and Land Reform, the Department of Public Works, a provincial government or municipality) and privately-owned land can be invaded unlawfully.
Government has a constitutional duty to ensure – where required and within available resources – that all citizens can enjoy their basic rights to access to land and/or to housing. Where special circumstances such as large-scale invasions occur, government has a similar duty to assist private landowners to protect their land.
Where unlawful occupiers whose basic rights are not at risk need to be evicted, the government authority responsible for the state land concerned or the private land owner must, without delay, approach the court for an eviction order in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act, 1998 (Act 19 of 1998). This law is currently administered by the Department Human Settlement and will be transferred to Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in due course.
Individuals (including unlawful occupiers) who have no access to agricultural land can approach the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform for assistance to find suitable agricultural land. Individuals in need of housing can approach the local municipality or, if necessary, the provincial or national Department of Human Settlement for assistance.
The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform will:
- approach the court for an order to evict unlawful occupiers of state land under its control as long as the basic rights of the unlawful occupiers are not in question
- assist unlawful occupiers of any state or private land who need and have no agricultural land to obtain access to suitable agricultural land
- assist other government authorities to find suitable alternative land for the unlawful occupiers in need of housing, and
- where required and where special circumstances exist, assist private agricultural land owners whose land has been unlawfully invaded to relocate occupiers in need of agricultural land to suitable alternative land.
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Steps to follow
- Where private land has been unlawfully
invaded and no special circumstances exist, the land owner must
approach the court without delay for an eviction order in terms of
the Prevention of Illegal Eviction From and Unlawful Occupation of
Land Act, 1998.
- Where private land has been unlawfully
invaded and special circumstances exist, the land owner can
approach any office of the Department of Land Affairs for
assistance if the need that underlies the land invasion is for
access to agricultural land.
- Where private land has been unlawfully
invaded and special circumstances exist, the land owner can
approach the area’s local municipality or, if necessary, the
provincial or national Department of Housing for assistance if the
underlying need is for housing.
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Legal framework
(Documents are provided in PDF
format. To open PDF documents, you need to have
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4 or higher installed on
your computer.)
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Service standard
Initially, it will take the Directorate: Public Land Support
Services approximately 14 days to search for and identify suitable
alternative land. However, due to stakeholder consultation and
ministerial approval, the process can take between two and three
months to be completed.
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Cost
The costs involved in obtaining suitable alternative land are
case-dependent. Factors such as the size of the community for which
land must be sought and the cost of land in a particular area are
taken into account.
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Forms to complete
There is no form to complete.
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Contact details
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