LARC participates in the International Interdisciplinary Security of Land Tenure Conference
Katlego Ramantsima, Nokwanda Sihlali and Thandolwethu Nkopane - researchers from UCT Law's Land & Accountability Research Centre (LARC) - participated in the International Interdisciplinary Security of Land Tenure Conference (IISLT) convened by the UFS Law Faculty from 6 - 8 May 2024. The conference aimed to address the pervasive issue of insecure land rights plaguing rural communities in South Africa, despite constitutional safeguards and landmark legal decisions.
Papers from various disciplines that intersected with the security of land tenure in rural land communities were welcomed with the acknowledgement that security of land tenure requires an interdisciplinary approach that is conscious of the intersectionalities between property, environmental law and conservation, customary law and succession, gender and traditional practices; natural resources and socio-economic rights; agriculture and land reform including poverty; politics and governance.
The conference sought to explore solutions for the complex challenges surrounding land tenure security internationally. The conference's theme was Transforming the rural land economy: the creation of secure land rights for the enhancement of rural livelihoods and sustainable development. The conference was held in collaboration with national and international research partners such as Anglia Ruskin University in London, UK; Imo State University in Owerri, Nigeria; the National University of Lesotho's United Nations Development Programme Human Rights Chair; the Law Faculty of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria; the University of Stellenbosch's Department of Private Law; and the Free State Centre for Human Rights. Other closely associated research collaborators are the Public Affairs Research Institute (PARI) and the UFS Centre for Development Studies.
At the conference, LARC researchers presented their working paper that is provisionally titled The Complexity of South Africa’s Dual Tenure System: A Legacy Unresolved. The paper looks at the outcomes of past and present legislation in protecting those with customary land rights. It analyses the conceptual differences between common law and customary law property regimes. With the aid of practical cases from work done by LARC in the former homelands, this working paper posits that current laws aimed at securing land tenure do not adequately engage the existing customary systems, nor do they help secure the land rights of rural citizens. The paper proposes that what is needed is an actively committed state to reform the current tenure system, and a legal framework that can fully secure the land rights of rural citizens.