Property Law

South Africa is country with a history of gross unfairness especially when it comes to the dispossession of land from people based on their skin colour. During the Apartheid era such dispossessions were on a larger scale than before as the apartheid government sought ways in which to alienate other races especially black people. Such dispossessions happened so that the then government could be able to control the movements of black people an in the process limit them in a way. Acts such as the Group Areas ACT were enacted and under this Act the apartheid government was given the power to racially segregate people in both urban and rural areas . Since a democratic government was voted into power in 1994 there have been statutes enacted which seek to undo the injustice and inequality that was caused by the apartheid government , the constitution as well provides for the rights in property of people .

In the apartheid era the Group Areas Act as already explained was all about the segregation of the different races and this included the forced removals of people from their land and homes into areas where the government saw fit for them .The issue of property is a major issue for any country as most if not all people wish to enjoy having a roof over their heads and having their own land which can help improve the situation in which they found themselves in under the apartheid government. S25 of The Constitution deals with the ways in which property and land issues are to be dealt with in the current day and it stipulates that "no one may be arbitrarily deprived of property and that property cannot be expropriated without compensation"

The post-apartheid government saw the need to redress the harm that was done during apartheid it saw the need for people to be given back land which was taken away from the by means of legislation which was unfair and inequitable . Land reform in South Africa is dealt with in the Constitution as it provides for the restitution and redistribution of land under sections 25(5) and 25(7), these sections stipulate:

5 The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis.

7 A person or community dispossessed of property after 19 June 1913 as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices is entitled, to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to restitution of that property or to equitable redress.

s 25(5) can be seen as being a socio-economic right and requiring the state to do all it can to ensure that measures have been put in place to see to it that land redistribution is achieved . Redistribution of land is seen as being the most important element of Land reform in the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act as it allows all citizen of South Africa to be able to gain and access land in a manner which is equitable and fair to all . Redistribution mostly involves cases where Agricultural land is involved and it is governed by the Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development policy, this policy is primarily aimed at ensuring that the number of black farmers in the country increase as they were not given a chance to own farms during apartheid and this caused an "imbalance in landholding"