Committee Receives Briefing on Progress and Challenges Facing Trancraa Communities

The Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Affairs received a briefing from the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development on the progress and challenges facing communities affected by the Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act (TRANCRAA), No 94 of 1998.

Implementation of the Act has faced many challenges, the department said. Challenges include, among others, a lack of dedicated human resource capacity to implement the programme and a lack of cooperation from affected municipalities in terms of passing council resolutions and signing transfer documents in terms of the Act. In addition, disputes within communities about the land to be transferred is another challenge.

TRANCRAA applies to 23 rural areas in four provinces in South Africa that were previously classified as Coloured reserves, where certain land is held in trust for respective communities. The four provinces are the Western Cape (12 areas), Northern Cape (eight), Eastern Cape (one) and the Free State (two), constituting 1 400 million hectares in total. Communal tenure remains a priority for land reform, of which 603 000 ha were transferred into TRANCRAA areas, the committee was told.

The Act was enacted to provide for, among other things, the transfer of certain land to municipalities and certain other land to legal entities chosen by resident communities in full title. It also provides for the removal of restrictions on the alienation of land, matters relating to minerals, and the repeal of the Rural Areas Act of 1987 and related laws.

On the implementation of the Act, the department said TRANCRAA properties belong to the communities, but apartheid laws prohibited Coloured communities from owning communal land. Most of these communities were formerly constituted in early 1909 with the Mission Stations and Communal Reserves Act No 29 of 1909.

The committee was told that the Act went through a rendition over the years whereby it was eventually replaced by the Rural Areas Act No 9 of 1987 and many proclamations were issued during 1912. The land is presently held in a trust for the communities by the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development in terms of the Rural Areas Act of 1987, which has since been repealed.

Section 3(13) of the TRANCRAA states: "Any trust land which is not transferred at the expiry of the transitional period vests in the Minister, who may continue to hold such land in trust and may at any time thereafter dispose of that land in accordance with the principles of this Act."

The department indicated that the implementation of the Act requires collaboration between the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development; provincial government; local government; and the communities concerned in order to overcome the challenges involved.

The committee also heard that the department's Tenure Unit requires stronger capacity, while proactive consultation with the municipality is needed to release the approved land and pass council resolutions.

The committee was pleased with the presentation and asked the department to provide a comprehensive report so the committee can better understand the challenges relating to all the parties' responsibilities. The committee undertook to prioritise the implementation of TRANCRAA and to schedule an oversight visit to the affected areas.

Nolizwi Magwagwa
31 October 2024