There have been complaints from ministers that foreigners owned a substantial proportion of South African land. Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti said “We want foreign investment in our country, but we also have to deal with the question that asks how we share the land amongst the growing population.”
The current proposal is to integrate the forms of land ownership – communal, state, public and private – into a single, four-tiered system. It proposed to convert state and public land to leasehold; privately owned land to freehold but with limited “extent” (possibly caps on the amount of land); land owned by foreigners to freehold, but with certain obligations and conditions; and communally owned land to communal tenure, with institutionalized use rights. South Africa still operates an old system of the 99-year leasehold.
The proposed land reform policy risks making potential investors think twice. It is crucial that the state completes a long-awaited land audit, including that of state owned land before even contemplating affecting foreign land ownership.
“We believe,” says Steve Burnett of 5th Avenue Properties, “that the Constitution points the way for property law, but leaves the matter of transformation in the end for South Africans to resolve politically and democratically.”
‘The commercial and industrial property sectors are under less threat than the agricultural sector. We have confidence that this sector of the property market will continue to grow and provide excellent returns for investors.
Warehouses To Let in Johannesburg
5th Avenue Properties
Phone:
+27 (011) 234 6111
+27 (0) 861 234 611
Email: renec@5thavenue.co.za
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