Land ownership and human rights are inseparable twins
THIS year marks 27 years of freedom and democracy, and 20 years of a democratic local government in South Africa, respectively. Against this backdrop, in 2019, the country’s rural population stood at 33.14%, according to the World Bank.
Government grants persons in these rural areas Permission to Occupy (PTO) land mostly under the custodianship of traditional leadership. This is not a title deed and does not transfer ownership. In the midst of these, the need to fast track the land reform project which seeks to address the results of land dispossession of the black majority has become urgent.
As the country commemorates March as Human Rights Month and recently the 21st as Human Rights Day amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the land issue as a
