PRESIDENT'S
OFFICE
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- No. 1057.
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26 June 1996
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- NO. 31 OF 1996: INTERIM
PROTECTION OF INFORMAL LAND RIGHTS ACT, 1996.
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- It is hereby notified that
the President has assented to the following Act which is hereby
published for general information:-
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ACT
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- To provide for the
temporary protection of certain rights to and interests in land
which are not otherwise adequately protected
by law; and to provide
for matters connected therewith.
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(Afrikaans
text signed by the President.) (Assented to 21 June 1996.)
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- BE IT ENACTED by the
Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as follows:- Definitions
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1. (1) In this Act,
unless the context indicates otherwise-
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- (i) "beneficial
occupation" means the occupation of land by a person, as if
he or she is the owner, without force,
openly and without the
permission of the registered owner; (vi)
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(ii)
"community" means any group or portion of a group of
persons whose rights to land are derived from shared rules
determining access to land held in common by such group; (i)
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- (iii) "informal right
to land" means-
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- (a) the use of,
occupation of, or access to land in terms of-
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- (i) any tribal,
customary or indigenous law or practice Of a tribe;
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- (ii) the custom, usage
or administrative practice in a particular area or community,
where the land in question at any time
vested in-
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- (aa) the South African
Development Trust established by section 4 of the Development
Trust and Land Act, 1936 (Act No.
18 of 1936);
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- (bb) the government of
any area for which a legislative assembly was established in
terms of the Self-Governing Territories
Constitution Act, 1971
(Act No. 21 of
1971), or
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- (cc) the governments
of the former Republics of Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and
Ciskei,
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- (b) the right or
interest in land of a beneficiary under a trust arrangement in
terms of which the trustee is a body or
functionary established
or appointed by or under an Act of Parliament or the holder of a
public office;
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- (c) beneficial
occupation of land for a continuous period of not less than five
years prior to 31 December 1997; or
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(d) the use or occupation
by any person of an erf as if he or she is in respect of that
erf, the holder of a right mentioned
in Schedule 1 or 2 of the
Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Act, 1991 (Act No. 112 of 1991),
although he or she is not formally
recorded in a register of land
rights as the holder of the right in question,
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- but does not include-
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- (e) any right or
interest of a tenant, labour tenant, sharecropper
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or employee if such right
or interest is purely of a contractual nature; and
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- (f) any right or
interest based purely on temporary permission granted by the
owner or lawful occupier of the land in question,
on the basis
that such permission may at any time be withdrawn
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by such owner or lawful
occupier; (ii)
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- (iv) "Minister"
means the Minister of Land Affairs; (iii) (v) "person"
includes a community or a part thereof;
(iv)
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(vi) "prescribed"
means prescribed by or under this Act; (vii) (vii) "tribe"
includes-
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(a) any community living and
existing like a tribe; and
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- (b) any part of a tribe
living and existing as a separate entity. (v)
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- (2)(a) This Act shall not
confer on the holder of a real right to land, any rights in
addition to those which he or she holds
in that land.
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- (b) The holder of an
informal right in land shall be deemed to be an owner of land for
the purposes of section 42 of the Minerals
Act, 1991 (Act No. 50 of
1991).
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- Deprivation of informal
rights to land
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- 2. (1) Subject to the
provisions of subsection (4), and the provisions of the
Expropriation Act, 1975 (Act No. 63 of 1975), or
any other law which
provides for the expropriation of land or rights in land, no person
may be deprived of any informal right
to land without his or her
consent.
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- (2) Where land is held on
a communal basis, a person may, subject to subsection (4), be
deprived of such land or right in land
in accordance with the custom
and usage of that community.
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- (3) Where the deprivation
of a fight in land in terms of subsection (2) is caused by a
disposal of the land or a right in land
by the community, the
community shall pay appropriate compensation to any person who is
deprived of an informal right to land
as a result of such disposal.
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- (4) For the purposes of
this section the custom and usage of a community shall be deemed to
include the principle that a decision
to dispose of any such right
may only be taken by a majority of the holders of such rights
present or represented at a meeting
convened for the purpose of
considering such disposal and of which they have been given
sufficient notice, and in which they
have had a reasonable
opportunity to participate.
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- Sales and other
dispositions subject to informal rights
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- 3. Subject to the
provisions of section 2, any sale or other disposition of any
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land shall be subject to any
existing informal rights to that land. Regulations
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4. The Minister may make
regulations regarding all matters which are necessary
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or expedient to be prescribed
in order to achieve the objects of this Act. Application and
duration of Act
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5. (1) This Act binds all
persons, including the State.
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- (2) The provisions of this
Act shall lapse on 31 December 1997: Provided that the Minister may,
at any time before such provisions
lapse, by notice in the Gazette
extend the application of such provisions for a period of not more
than 12 months: Provided further
that any such notice shall be laid
upon the
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Table of Parliament, and if
Parliament by resolution disapproves of such notice, such notice
shall cease to be of force and effect,
but without prejudice to the
validity of anything done in terms of such notice before it so
ceased to be of force and effect.
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- Short title
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- 6. This Act shall be
called the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act,
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1996.
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