Get reliable science

Elandskloof was the first land restitution case in post-apartheid South Africa in which the government returned land to a community. The communal property association became dysfunctional, and the courts placed it under government administration. In its haste to return land to the community in the aftermath of the apartheid system the state did not set up comprehensive planning and consultative processes within government institutions, the beneficiary community and NGOs before returning the land. Consequently, the beneficiaries entertained expectations of resources that have not been met due to regulatory and institutional constraints, which have fuelled intense anger. In addition, internal community conflicts over membership eligibility and access to power and resources have bedevilled the project. The advantage of communal property associations is that they offer great flexibility in how a community can set up its land tenure system and the associated rules. However, lack of regulatory structure at the outset places great strain on a governing committee which has to create the rules, police them, judge them and administer sanctions. In Elandskloof, this occurred while the community was being reconstructed and the legitimacy of the governing committee itself was challenged. A major lesson is that the administrative structure, membership boundaries, and the land tenure rules should be established prior to land being returned to a community, and administrative powers need to be separated, at least until the community has settled. The case also raises policy questions about government administration of dysfunctional communal property associations.