Land Survey Act, 1997 (Act No. 8 of 1997)

25. Resurvey of block of land other than township
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(1)The Minister may order that a section or block of land (excluding land referred to in sections 26, 27, 28 and 37) be resurveyed under the direction of the Surveyor-General whenever—
(a)the owners of not less than one half of the section or block of land, consisting of more than one registered piece of land, apply to the Minister for a resurvey of that section or block; and
(b)the Surveyor-General reports that the boundaries of the several pieces of land constituting that section or block are confusing and need readjustment.

 

(2)No beacons or boundaries which have become lawfully established in accordance with section 35 shall be affected by any resurvey or any other act performed under this section.

 

(3)If in the course of a resurvey ordered under this section a dispute arises as to the boundaries of any piece of land, the Surveyor-General may in the prescribed manner give written notice to every party to that dispute that he or she proposes to appoint an arbitrator for the purposes of settling the dispute.

 

(4)Any party referred to in subsection (3) may, if he or she was in South Africa on the date when the notice was served upon him or her, within 30 days, or if he or she was not in South Africa upon that date, within 60 days after that date, institute an action in the court to settle that dispute or, if the State is one of the parties to the dispute, proceed to arbitration in respect thereof: Provided that should no person institute any such action or arbitration proceedings within those periods the Surveyor-General may appoint an arbitrator to settle the dispute.

 

(5)The costs of any resurvey ordered under this section shall be defrayed from the National Revenue Fund, established by section 213 of the Constitution, but the Minister may thereafter recover those costs from the owner of each piece of land in accordance with a schedule framed by the Surveyor-General, apportioning the costs among all the owners.

 

(6)Upon payment by the owner of any piece of land of all costs due by him or her in respect of a resurvey ordered under this section, the Surveyor-General shall cancel the existing diagram of that piece of land and shall issue that owner with a new diagram.

 

(7)The Surveyor-General shall not approve a general plan representing pieces of land based upon a resurvey under this section until a copy thereof has been available for inspection during a period of six weeks at his or her office and at the office of the magistrate of the district within which that land is situate and until the Surveyor-General has published, in the prescribed manner, a notice stating his or her intention to approve that general plan and calling upon persons interested who object to the approval, to lodge an objection with the Surveyor-General: Provided that the Surveyor-General may approve any such general plan without the notice if each owner of any land affected by the resurvey has agreed in writing to the general plan or to the beacons and boundaries adopted in the resurvey, or if the resurvey is in accordance with a judgment or award under subsection (4).

 

(8)If within four weeks from the date of the last publication of the notice no objection under subsection (7) has been lodged by any person other than a person who was a party to an action or arbitration proceedings under subsection (4), the Surveyor-General may approve the general plan and upon approval he or she shall, by notice in the relevant Provincial Gazette, declare that the general plan has been approved.

 

(9)If within the period of four weeks any objection under subsection (7) has been lodged, the proviso to section 27(3), and section 29(5), shall with the necessary changes apply.