The Land Court Act, 2023 (Act No. 6 of 2023)Preamble |
NOTING THAT section 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which is enshrined in the Bill of Rights—
| (a) | obliges the State to take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis; and |
| (b) | envisages the State taking legislative and other measures to achieve land, water and related reform, in order to redress the results of past racial discrimination; |
AND NOTING THAT section 34 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, accords everyone the right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in a fair public hearing before a court or, where appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or forum;
NOTING FURTHER THAT section 7 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996—
| (a) | proclaims that the Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of democracy in South Africa and that it enshrines the rights of all people in the country and affirms the values of human dignity, equality and freedom; |
| (b) | obliges the State to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights in the Bill of Rights; |
AND ALSO NOTING THAT section 166(e) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, recognises courts established in terms of an Act of Parliament with a status similar to either the High Court of South Africa or the Magistrates’ Courts;
AND RECOGNISING THAT with the advent of the democratic constitutional dispensation in 1994, South Africa inherited a fragmented, unequal and divisive dispensation relating to all aspects of land, which was derived from our colonial history and further structured to serve the segregation objectives of the apartheid dispensation;
AND SINCE land reform initiatives to address the destructive impact of colonialism and apartheid have not progressed at the desired pace, sometimes giving rise to expensive and protracted litigation, to the detriment of the poorest of the poor and most vulnerable in society;
AND SINCE THEREFORE IT IS necessary that land reform in its entirety be accelerated in a lawful and equitable manner, guided by progressive jurisprudence;
AND SINCE IT IS FURTHERMORE necessary and desirable that there should be specialised, well-resourced, accessible and streamlined adjudication structures in place with the institutional, transformative and social justice wherewithal in land matters, in order to enhance and promote fairness and equity at all stages of the adjudication processes before and during court proceedings.
PARLIAMENT of the Republic of South Africa enacts, as follows:—