Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa November 2014 | Page 21

upfront

The greatest impediment for black grain farmers is access to finance,
because they do not hold the title deed of the land where they work.
Most of the land belongs to the state and by affording them the title
deed, you enable them to acquire financing from commercial banks
and agribusinesses.”
This is true for residential property. “To this day, 20 years into
democracy, the majority of blacks still continue to be merely tenants
on the property they occupy. Government, at national, provincial and
local municipal level is still the landlord,” says Temba A Nolutshungu,
Director, Free Market Foundation (FMF).
Government owns around one third (32-40 million hectares) of
South Africa’s land, much of it defined as ‘superfluous’ and readily
disposable by the Department of Land Affairs. According to the
FMF, some of this state land must be transferred to the homeless free
of charge, by a ‘one-household-one-plot’ approach without financing
or housing construction, survey or deeds registration. Land can be
transferred into full and immediate ownership under a secure and
unambiguous title which can be freely sold, mortgaged or let. The
estimated three million homeless or landless families can readily be
given up to five hectares of rural land or 200 square metres of urban
plot each. This will still leave the state with a quarter of all South
African land. All South Africans will then have a place of their own,
and be able to build a house, even if it is rudimentary. This will launch
a dynamic process of empowerment and housing improvement.
It is crucial to focus attention on the onslaught of property rights
in South Africa. Public opinion can be mobilised and pressure can be
exerted on policy makers. “Property rights are the cornerstone of a
healthy and expanding economy,” says Jansen van Rensburg. “In the
end, property rights will not be determined by politicians alone, but
by ordinary citizens. Active and organised civil institutions have an
important role to play by mobilising communities for the protection
of property rights.”

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Neale Petersen

Hilda Lunderstedt

Why property rights are under fire in Sout