This thesis undertakes an in-depth study of the Mount Frere land claim. The study focuses on the impact of unsettled land claims in small rural towns of the former Bantustan on local spatial planning. There is no known evidence of similar studies done in small rural towns, therefore the study will contribute to the construction of body of knowledge. The study takes a case study method to analyse the impact of unsettled land claims. The analysis provides a platform for drawing possible policy recommendations in respect of urban land claims in small rural towns of the former Bantustans. The thesis central argument is that the delay of settling the land claims in the small rural towns of the former Bantustans has a negative impact on the local spatial planning. The poor local spatial planning results in an uncoordinated development which constrains development in general. The study argues that the law as it stands does not clarify the role of local municipalities during the process of land claim. The study will further argue that land restoration may not always be the appropriate relief for the claimants in the case of urban land claims in small towns. In the case of Mount Frere the municipality appears to have taken a confrontational approach towards the claimants as witnessed by the number of court cases opened against the claimants. This resulted on a breakdown of trust between the municipality and the claimants. The role of the land claims commission also appears to have contributed to the problems of delayed settlement of the claim. The municipality wants to oppose restoration but the municipality seems to be unaware of section 34 of the Restitution of Land Rights Act. It is argued that there is little focus on the land claims in the rural small towns of the former Bantustans and as such this is retarding development and investment on infrastructure and local economic development. The delayed settlement has also made land invasion and illegal sale of land to be rampant and benefiting individuals and not all the claimants in the process. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2011.

Numerous land reform policy instruments and initiatives that have been implemented since the beginning of the 1990's are mediating the on-going battle between formal land tenure systems and informal customary land tenure arrangements. The policy instruments and initiatives seek to establish a delicate balance that will suit the diverse needs of the population of South Africa with respect to land. The enormity of this task is evident when one is faced with the reality that South Africa has the third highest Gini index (a measure of inequality in the distribution of land) in the world. The Eastern Cape Province is one of the poorest provinces in South Africa, and has been affected most by the land segregationist and homeland policies of previous colonial and apartheid regimes. It is not only the unequal distribution of land, but also the vast array of insecure tenure arrangements that have had a detrimental effect on the development and empowerment of communities resident on communal land. This research analyses one initiative that intends to strengthen the security of tenure of existing occupants of communal land in the remote rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province. The research critically appraises the Administrative Area Boundary Project of the Department of Land Affairs (that aims to identify and complete the formal surveys of all administrative area boundaries in the Eastern Cape) in the light of the intentions of the Communal Land Rights Act (No. 11 of 2004) (CLaRA), and highlights the challenges in formalising the informal tenure arrangements of occupants of communal land. The different aspects of the Administrative Area Boundary Project (both office work and field work) were evaluated in order to determine not only its feasibility, but also its impact as an effective instrument of land reform in its endeavour to provide secure land rights to millions of South Africans residing in former homeland areas. To this end, both desktop and case study methodologies were used in order to collect and analyse the research data. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.