THE IDENTITY OF LAND IN THE PRETORIA DISTRICT, 19 JUNE 1913: IMPLICATIONS FOR LAND RESTITUTION

ABSTRACT

The restitution of land rights is a priority of post-apartheid land reform in South Africa. The Restitution of Land Rights Act (1994) restricts land restitution to cases after 19 June 1913 which are based on proof of a right in land and the confirmation of discriminatory dispossession without just compensation. These principles of land restitution have been widely criticised. This paper argues in particular that a perspective based on land rights is not a fair criterion for land restitution. It proposes that the concept of a ‘right in land’, in reality a metaphor for land possession, should be replaced by one of an ‘identity in land’, and that restitution should be based on de facto ‘land occupation’ rather than de jure ‘land possession’. The study has used a progressive research method and has reconstructed the identity of land in the Pretoria district as it was on 19 June 1913. It has established that the extent of land with the potential to be claimed by blacks in the Pretoria district increases substantially when land occupation replaces land possession as the criterion for land restitution. It is argued that the land restitution measure introduced by the Government will not address the land needs of the people of South Africa sufficiently unless it is broadened considerably.