Join the fight for the land, heart and soul of cultural communities – AfriForum
AfriForum is calling on traditional, Khoi-San and other cultural and faith communities to join the fight to protect cultural and group rights and ensure their full realisation. This follows AfriForum’s submission today of extensive comments on the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Bill.
Among other things, AfriForum’s comments emphasise the infringement of the land rights of traditional communities; the excessive and improper powers assigned to state officials; a lack of understanding of living customary law and its erosion; the prioritisation of the state’s interests while community interests and priorities are neglected and undermined; and the centralised and individualistic ideologies underpinning the legislation, which are at odds with the worldview and values of traditional and Khoi-San communities, as well as other cultural communities.
According to Barend Uys, Head of Intercultural relations and cooperation at AfriForum, the legislation in its current form enables the premier of a province to alter the area of jurisdiction of a traditional community regardless of whether the community’s traditional council agrees to it or not.
“A traditional community may currently, in terms of Section 20 of the Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Act 112 of 1991, request the designated minister to transfer into the community’s ownership land over which it exercises authority. Most traditional communities’ land is still held by the state in custodianship on behalf of those communities. The reality is that the state is making no meaningful effort to use this existing legislation to transfer communities’ land to them. This particular clause therefore directly infringes on the land rights and land entitlement of traditional communities,” says Uys.
“The current state of affairs points to the government’s dishonourable approach to, and intentions regarding, land ownership in the country. It once again confirms why communities and citizens must resist the Expropriation Act, as AfriForum is currently doing.”
AfriForum believes that this legislation goes to the heart and soul of traditional and Khoi-San communities, as well as other cultural communities and their continued and prosperous existence as cultural communities.
“It is concerning that the Bill undermines communities’ cultural and group rights, as affirmed, among others, in the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), to which South Africa is a signatory; further centralises power; and misses the opportunity to establish a legislative framework that would make it easier for communities to realise cultural self-determination, as provided for in Section 235 of the Constitution, and to take their future confidently into their own hands,” says Uys.
“Legislation concerning cultural communities and their leadership must place cultural communities and their values, way of life, worldview and priorities at the forefront. AfriForum therefore urgently calls on all cultural communities to organise and strengthen themselves and to cooperate with one another to ensure a beautiful future for all communities in the country.”
