From: http://lists.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/debate

GET INVOLVED
Sisonke July 2003

The Campaign to Re-open Lodgment for Betterment Restitution wants
organizations to join them. In this article it explains its purpose and how
groups can get involved.

[Photo Caption: Government has settled two betterment claims in the
Keiskammahoek area which civil society activists say has set a precedent.
Pictured here are celebrations from the second settlement involving nine
communal claims]

Government policy from 1996 to 1998
The government's land policy is spelt out in the department of Land Affairs'
1997 White Paper on Land Reform. One fundamental weakness of the policy is
that it does not address the injustice of betterment - as it argues that
victims of betterment removals did not have valid restitution claims. This
policy emerged out of a process of various discussions in the provinces. By
1996, the Eastern Cape Land Claims Commission had already arrived at a firm
decision that the Restitution of Land Rights Act only applied to former
"white" South Africa and not the former homeland areas. Consequently,
communities in the former homeland areas were overlooked and discarded
during the lodgment phase of the restitution process. This position was
unacceptable. It amounted to "second-class" treatment of betterment
claimants. It re-directed their claims to programmes that do not offer
comparable benefits to restitution and that are hamstrung by conceptual and
operational difficulties.

What is the Campaign?
The Eastern Cape NGO Coalition (ECNGOC), the Eastern Cape Provincial Council
of Churches (ECPCC) and the Border Rural Committee (BRC) want government to
open the lodgment phase of the land restitution process for those who were
dispossessed through forced "betterment" removals.

What is Restitution?
Restitution is one of government's land reform programmer's. It applies to
people who were dispossessed of land rights in terms of the racially-based
law or practice after 1913 without receiving compensation.
The programme provides various forms of redress (restoration of land rights,
acquisition of alternative land, developmental assistance and financial
compensation) to verified claimants. The deadline for lodging a claim was
31st of December, 1998.

What was betterment?
Betterment was implemented in the former homelands and other so-called black
areas from the 1930's onward - to regulate these areas and control land
usage. Areas were divided into distinct land use and people were forced to
move into the demarcated residential zones.
People were also dispossessed of arable and grazing land. Between 1.3 and
2.5 million people were dispossessed through betterment - more than any
other category of forced removal.
Furthermore, betterment impacted exclusively on the most impoverished rural
areas.

Government's revised policy position
In 2000/01, government changed its position. It decided to deal favorably
with lodged betterment claims through the restitution process. The precedent
was set at Chatha in the former Ciskei and followed by nine other communal
claims in the Keiskammahoek district. These claims released R 115 million
into the northern and eastern regions of the Keiskammahoek district - a
significant injection of capital into an area wracked by poverty.

The unresolved issue
However, the policy revision will not translate into benefits for the tens
of thousands of "bettered" communities that did not lodge claims. These
communities did not lodge because they were prejudiced during the pre-1999
period by government's policy stance at the time. Therefore the campaign
partners are now pressing for a re-opening of the lodgment window for
victims of betterment dispossession. Research into betterment in the
Middledrift District has recently been conducted. The findings of the
research are staggering. It identifies 24 communal "locations" (located in
eight wards) that were subjected to betterment. These locations currently
comprise villages. Not a single one of these villages lodged restitution
claims for land rights lost through betterment.

Elements of the campaign
There are various elements of the campaign. BRC is engaging intensively with
Nkonkobe Municipality and the Middledrift communities in eight wards, about
their involvement in the process. ECNGOC asnd ECPCC are disseminating
information to their members, so that the community base of the campaign is
broadened. Formal engagement with government has commenced, and will
culminate in a meeting with Minister Thoko Didiza. Depending on the
Minister's response, communities will either mobilize to lodge their claims,
or mobilize to apply increased pressure on government.

[Any ECNGOC members interested in getting involved in the campaign should
telephone either Zanele Semane or Pumeza Grootboom on (043) 742 0173]
(Sisonke = Newsletter of the Eastern Cape NGO Coalition)