MEDIA STATEMENT: AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE RECEIVES DEPARTMENT’S RESPONSES ON PDAL BILL

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development today to provide responses on the submissions received during the nationwide public hearings on the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land (PDAL) Bill.

The committee conducted public hearings in all nine provinces, covering three districts per province and held its last session in Parliament on 10 October 2023. This extensive public consultation programme was aimed at ensuring that the final Bill reflects the views of the people and the affected stakeholders. ‘Public participation is very important in the development and processing of legislation to ensure that laws that Parliament passes are progressive and responsive to the needs of every citizen and do not infringe on their rights,’ Committee Chairperson Nkosi Zwelivelile emphasised.

Stakeholders and individuals raised a number of issues at the hearings and the committee undertook to inv
ite the department to respond to all of them. As part of the department’s responses, it noted and agreed to the following submissions, including:

The expansion of the definition of landowners to include people whose rights are not registered in terms of the Deeds Registries Act. The view was that ‘Land Owner’ as it is defined currently in the Bill does not take into consideration those who do not currently have title deeds to their property.

The department also noted and accepted an input which raised a concern that Clause 11(2)(b) refers to ‘food production’ and would limit other commodities that also require high value agricultural land such as wool, timbre and agricultural feed. The submission proposes for the definition to be extended to include commodities related closely to the agricultural sector that depend on agricultural land.

The department also agreed and accepted proposals to consider some of the definitions to strengthen regulatory measures, including Clause 1, which covers ‘agricultural land
‘. The submissions made stated that the exclusion of land in terms of the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act, 1970 (Act No. 70 of 1970) by means of a notice in the Gazette should be reconsidered.

Among the inputs the department noted and declined is the proposal relating to Clause 21: on the establishment of committees. The submission was in reference to subclause (7)(a) and proposed that there is no reason to exclude foreign nationals who bona fide live and work in South Africa.

The department also did not agree with the inputs on Clause 36-37, which proposes that Offences – 3(c) should not be an offence and authorisation ought to be revoked. It further raised a concern that Penalties – 2(a) and (b) limits the courts discretion regarding penalties and these could rather be inserted administrative penalties and enable the courts to make any order that would be just and equitable in the circumstances. The department emphasized that the intention of the clause is to deter offences at the very first instan
ce.

Among the concerns raised by the committee related to the department’s consultation with traditional authorities during the law-making stages, as the Bill covers all land including land under the authority of the traditional leaders. The department said it agrees with the State Law Advisers ‘that it is not necessary to refer the Bill to the National House of Traditional Leaders in terms of section 18(1)(a) of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, 2003 (Act No.41 of 2003), as it does not contain any provisions which may have an impact upon customary law or customs of traditional communities. 2. 2010 (8) BCLR 741 (CC). 31’. The department further stated that the Bill will not impact on issues of ownership and all parties will be consulted during the implementation stage.

The committee expressed its appreciation to the department for the extensive briefing and responses. ‘As the committee we will engage with the secretariat to ascertain if any further inputs will be required from the dep
artment. We may request written submissions or engage physically on some of the issues so that we may move with our plans for conclusion of the Bill,’ he said.

Source: Parliament of South Africa