Land Policy Profile in South Africa - Essay Example

LAND POLICY PROFILE Land Market Exchange Mechanisms In south Africa, land polices are enacted by the central government. There are different acts which govern the urban land owners, buyers and sellers. The market and public development rate is guided by the national policies developed by the central government. The Development Facilitation Act 67 enacted in 1995 governs the urban land market in South Africa. These act in chapter one states that the law and administrative practices should provide for development of both rural and urban lands and facilitate for informal and formal development of the new settlements. The act also states the terms of agreement in buying and selling of urban lands in South Africa (Hall and Ntsebeza 2007, 50). The government of South Africa is committed to take in to account the conflicting land demand of some stakeholders. The government also takes in to account any cause of action arising in land investments and market (Shackleton and Hebinck 2010, 70). The government control the operation involving buying and selling of land in South Africa. The issue of leasing urban land is controlled by the government. The land market is no the bases of willing buyer to willing seller. These means that in South Africa, people owning the urban land can sell their land anytime. Any individual willing to buy land can negotiate with some one willing to sell to make a deal (Hall and Ntsebeza 2007, 19). The government does not want to be directly involved in the process of buying and selling of land. The needy are given access to grants and services to assist them in purchasing lands. The government also has established a redistribution program for land. The program deals in verifying the land being sold. The verification process helps to minimize the cases of fraud in the land buying process. The government grants are only available and affordable in macro terms due to the increase in completion and limited fiscal resources between budgetary priorities. The grants are given at macro terms but also the government ensures that they are available and can bring up benefit to the needy. The needy are not exploited by the grants. Currently, the allocation of grants for the poor people in need of buying land is set to a limit of R 15, 000. The government is concerned in reducing the duties and fees related to the purchase of land (Shackleton and Hebinck 2010, 32). After agreement is set between the buyer and the seller they make a written agreement. The Statue requires all land or real estate purchase agreement to be written. After writing down the agreement the owner of the land must transfer the land ownership to the buyer. The land owned by government is only sold after approval by government officials. The government also must transfer the ownership of land to the buyer. The land title deed is given to the buyer by the department of lands. The department of land deals with transfer of ownership and documentation of South Africa’s lands (Home 2011, 44). Public Sector Role in Land Provision The public sector in South Africa plays an important role in land provision. The public sector works with an aim of improving the land access to the poor people. In regulation of land, the public sector is involved in land taxation, disposal and acquisition of land, land use and planning management. The public sector is involved in monitoring the market operation and property ownership in the urban centers. The individuals building in urban centers have to negotiate with the municipalities. The involvement of municipalities in building helps in controlling the building structures in the urban centers. When an individual buys a land in the urban area, he or she must first consult the public sector in order to construct any building. In the urban land market, the public sector plays the responsibility of ensuring the pro-poor outcomes. The public sectors help the poor to access grants from the government in order to purchase land in the urban centers. The public sector is concerned in ensuring that urban lands are not dominated by the rich investors only. In order to ensure the pro-poor outcomes the local government works together with the municipal (Maxwell, Merwe and Huyssteen 2010, 33). The public sector keeps records of the land owners. Public sector helps in verification of lands when an individual needs to buy. An individual can search and verify land ownership in the public land officers before buying (Chigara 2013, 98). The public sector issues the land ownership with documents like the title deeds. After an individual buys a land he or she must have the ownership of the land transferred. The process of ownership transfer is carried out by the public sector. Individual carrying out the transfer must produce original title deed and the required fee. The money charged by the public sector is used for administration purpose and facilitating the process of land ownership (Cort and Sigel 2011, 21). The public sector helps in carrying out land survey. Surveys are aimed on identifying the boarders. In urban centers individual own small plots and the public sector is concerned in surveying and marking the boarders. When an individual sells part of the land, the public sector carries out survey to mark the new border and divide the land between two individual. In the public survey office, there is a map showing boarders and public roads in the urban centers. After surveying, an individual is issued with a number for his or her land. The public sector gives land number to the new land owners. The public sector is involved in the process of approving and changing ownership of lands. An individual can not claim ownership of land without the necessary documents like title deeds. These documents are only available or are given by the public sector. A land ownership in South Africa can not be changed without public sector involvement (Chigara 2013, 35). Public Sector Tools to Manage Land Markets The government of South Africa uses different tools in managing the land market. One of the programs used by the public sector in South Africa to control and manage land market is Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF). LGAF empathizes and reinforces the tools used to manage the marker of lands in South Africa’s urban centers. There are five areas which LGAF monitors and they include and management and taxation, land use and planning, institutional and legal framework, provision of land information, management of public land and resolution of land conflict. LGAF has been successful in South Africa in providing a snap short of whereabouts and land state in the country. The public sector is concerned in land use planning. Individuals must explain to the government on the purposes of the land or the way they intent to use their land. For example, the public sector can stop an individual from establishing a factory in certain areas like near State offices. The land planning tools helps the government to control land market by ensuring that the land remain safe and the neighboring lands can still get buyers. For the purpose of construction the public sector limits the height of building to ensure people safety. Safe environment attracts more investors and the public sector operates with an aim of making the land safe to have more investors (Home 2011, 16). The public sector is involved in management and taxation of urban lands. The sector collects taxes from investors owning land in the urban centers. The individuals owning rental houses also provides taxes. In this way the public sector gets money to manage the land market effectively. The public sector is involved in provision of land information. The person in need of land information can get it from the public offices. They give out land ownership details, size and location of the land. These help in reducing the cases of fraud in the land market. The public sector is involved in conflict management and dispute resolution. Incase the buyer disagrees with the seller public sector intervenes and settles the problem. If the seller does not want to provide the land document to the seller then the public sector intervenes and orders the seller to refund the money or release the documents. The action of conflict resolution helps in building up confidence in the land market. Investors have confidence in investing in land because they belief the public sector will help them out in case of trouble (Cort and Sigel 2011, 45). The public sector also manages the public land. The public land in South Africa is described as the land owned by the government entities like hospital, schools and government administration offices. The public sector is involved in management of such lands. It ensures that the public land is not sold by corrupt officers. The public sectors employees those tools in order to create a safe land market environment. The sector also applies those tools in order to attract more investors in urban centers. The public sector in South Africa has been effective in managing the land market because the government has an effective formal land market working alongside informal systems of land market (Oomen 2005, 34). Financing of Private Sector and Development The government is involved in financing the private sector land development in South Africa. Private investors in the land market find means to get funds for their development. The World Bank provided money to the government of South Africa for the purpose of land development. The government offers grants to the private investors intending to venture in the land market. Money is set aside in the budget to assist the private land investors. The money is given in form of loans attracting low interest rates. Private investors also find money on personal basis in order to invest in land. Banks give out loans to business or people employed by government or recognized organization. An individual can get loans from local banks in order to venture in South Africa’s land market (Plessis and Merwe 2004, 67). Financial Process of Land Market Activity Investment is the key reason on why investors engage in land market activities. Urban land value in South Africa appreciates and investors buy the land in order to sell it when the price appreciates. People venturing in land market also construct rental house in order to collect rent and gain more income. Other people buy the land to invest in agriculture by growing crops and fruits to sell in the local and international markets. The individuals who consider buying a piece of land in urban centers do it for investment purposes. Investing in South African urban centers is beneficial, since many people live in the cities and there are varieties of business opportunities (Maxwell, Merwe and Huyssteen 2010, 56). Bibliography Chigara B. 2013. Southern African Development Community Land Issues. New York: Routledge. Cooke E. 2003. Modern Studies in Property Law. London: Hart Publishing. Cort S. and Sigel L. 2011. One Law, One Nation: The Making of the South African Constitution. South Africa: Jacana Media. Hall R. and Ntsebeza L., 2007. The Land Question in South Africa: The Challenges of Transformation. Boston: HSRC Press. Home K. R. 2011. Essays in African Land Law. New York: PULP. Maxwell C., Merwe J. and Huyssteen V. 2010. Contract Law in South Africa. Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. Oomen B. 2005. Chiefs in South Africa: Law, Power &Culture in the in the Post-Apartheid Era. South Africa: Jomes Currey Publishers. Plessis J. E. and Merwe C. G. 2004. Introduction to the Law of South Africa. Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. Shackleton C. and Hebinck P., 2010. Reforming Land and Resource use in South Africa: An Impact of Livelihood, 3rd Edition. New York: Routledge. Shackleton C. and Hebinck P., 2010. Reforming Land and Resource use in Africa: An Impact of Livelihood, 2nd Edition. New York: Routledge. Read More