Land claim delivery 'improving'

2004-10-18 14:17

Cape Town - More than 56 000 restitution land claims have been settled over the past five years, Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza told members of parliament's agriculture portfolio committee on Monday.

"In the restitution arena after 1999, we were able to improve our delivery track record. As we speak today, more than 56 000 claims have been settled," she said.

The appointment of additional commissioners in Limpopo and Mpumalanga had allowed the authorities in these regions to resolve claims "as fast as they could".

In the first five years of South Africa's democratic rule, the government had set out to redistribute 30% of agricultural land.

However, it was difficult to measure the pace of land reform in South Africa against any standard because "there is no country which has had similar circumstances as ourselves".

"So in earnest, we are comparing ourselves against what we had wished for," she said.

- SAPA