South Africa’s Communal Land Rights Act: A Plea for Restraint in Reform

This article reviews the collection of essays edited by Aninka Claassens and Ben Cousins, dealing with South Africa’s controversial Communal Land Rights Act (CLRA). It comments on the implications of the CLRA for land law and reform. The background to and policy choices underlying the enactment of this piece of legislation are discussed, and the difficulties with its implementation are highlighted. It is significant that, in the case of Tongoane and Others v Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs and Others, the constitutionality of the CLRA was challenged even before the CLRA became operative. The article discusses the main arguments raised by the constitutionality challenge, and raises further constitutionality issues. It considers the recommendations of Claassens and Cousins and makes further observations, particularly in light of the Tongoane judgment which was delivered after the book was published in 2008.