Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR)
South African national government department responsible for land reform, land administration, and rural development from 2009 to 2019. In June 2019 the department was merged with the Department of Agriculture to form the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), which now holds the land reform function including the TRANCRAA implementation authority. The department (under either name) is the national counterparty to TWKM and to the Genadendal Transformation Committee in the Farm 39 transformation process.
The department’s predecessor from 1994 to 2009 was the Department of Land Affairs (DLA), which is the name used in the Significant Dates timeline row for the 17 October 2008 Houw Hoek Agreement signing.
Domicile and scope
Head office: Pretoria. Regional office for the Western Cape: Cape Town. The department is a national government body with jurisdiction across the country and no local domicile in the BioRegion the Valley of Grace BioHub anchors. Its engagement with Farm 39 is through the statutory processes prescribed by TRANCRAA and the general land reform mandate.
Statutory authority
The department is the national authority under the Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act 94 of 1998. Under section 3(4)(a), the Minister issues the notice that formally starts the transitional period during which transfer to a chosen entity is to be completed. Under related provisions, the department oversees the identification of beneficiaries, the constitution of receiving entities (Communal Property Associations under the CPA Act 28 of 1996, or other forms), and the transfer of title. The department also administers the Communal Property Associations Act 28 of 1996 and the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994.
Role in the Farm 39 process
The following summary draws on the Significant Dates timeline. Every event carries the IC (Independently Corroborated) marker at source.
Houw Hoek Agreement (October 2008). As Department of Land Affairs (DLA), the department was a signatory to the Houw Hoek Agreement of Settlement of 17 October 2008. The timeline records that “DLA and TC signed promptly” following TWKM’s October 2008 signature. The Agreement was made an order of the Cape High Court on 22 October 2008 (before Justice Yekiso).
Section 3(4)(a) notice (April 2009). On 20 April 2009 the Minister signed the section 3(4)(a) notice, gazetted 8 July 2009, formally starting the 18-month transitional period for Farm 39. The department at this point was DRDLR (the name change from DLA had occurred with the May 2009 restructuring of the national executive).
TWKM’s “irreparable breakdown” letter (September 2009). In September 2009 TWKM informed DRDLR of an “irreparable breakdown” with the TC and committed to completing the process unilaterally.
The 7 July 2010 meeting. On 7 July 2010 TWKM, DRDLR, and UDWC met without the TC and decided the Agreement “cannot be implemented and should not be revised. No further public participation, no referendum, no updating of residents list.” DRDLR was one of three signatories to that decision.
2016 correspondence. On 27 September 2016 the TWKM Municipal Manager wrote to DRDLR stating that TWKM believed the Minister should transfer Farm 39 to TWKM, that the environment with the TC was hostile, and that tripartite meetings should be avoided.
Under DALRRD (2019 onward). No specific engagement of DALRRD with the Farm 39 process is documented in the current wiki record for the 2019-2026 period. The transfer has not occurred; the section 3(4)(a) transitional period expired in October 2010; the court order of October 2008 remains legally operative; and the receiving-entity question remains open. The department’s current position on the Farm 39 transformation is a follow-up research question.
Related pages
- TRANCRAA — The statute the department administers
- Theewaterskloof Local Municipality — The municipal counterparty
- Genadendal Transformation Committee — The beneficiary body
- Urban Dynamics Western Cape — Consultancy appointed by TWKM for the Farm 39 process
- Promises to the Valley of Grace — Analytical reading of the 2010 collapse
Sources
- Valley of Grace Significant Dates timeline
- Transformation of Certain Rural Areas Act 94 of 1998 (TRANCRAA)
- Communal Property Associations Act 28 of 1996
- Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994
- Houw Hoek Agreement of Settlement, 17 October 2008
- Section 3(4)(a) notice, gazetted 8 July 2009