The introduction of the first democratic Constitution and the land reform programme in South ' Africa provided the impetus for the development of a new perception of property. In terms of the traditional private law perception property rights are reduced to abstract, scientific concepts which form part of a hierarchical system of rationally and logically related concepts and definitions, the relationships between which remain largely unaffected by social and political realities. In this view the constitutional property clause is interpreted as a guarantee of existing individual property rights against unwarranted state interference. Proponents of the traditional private law view argue that this perception of property need not be replaced by a new constitutional perception of property, because the traditional private law perception is legitimated by the fact that it developed in an uninterrupted, linear line from Roman law. It is regarded as flexible enough to adapt to new and different social and political circumstances. However, the truth is that the development of property rights was disrupted by a number of discontinuities or fundamental breaks in different periods of its development. It is argued in this thesis that the introduction of the new constitutional order in South Africa can be regarded as another of these discontinuities, and that the strict adherence to the private law perception of property may be abandoned in favour of a new debate on property where the social and political function of property is emphasised more strongly. Land reform promotes the public interest in that it ensures the equitable use, distribution and exploitation of property. In most cases the implementation of land reform necessitates the limitation of property rights. A conservative judiciary's adherence to the traditional private law perception of property may lead to a constitutional conflict between the judiciary (that aims to afford existing property rights strong constitutional protection) and the legislature (that aims to promote the public interest by implementing land reform). Such a constitutional conflict can be avoided if the South African courts adopt an approach in terms of which the social and political role and function of property in society is recognised. / Private Law / LL.D.

The conceptualist view of property is based on the conceptual system or hierarchy of rights conceived by Grotius and developed by the pandectists. It rests on the assumptions that ownership is neutral and timeless. As such it has a number of abstract, timeless and universal characteristics, namely absoluteness, uniformity and exclusivity. Combined with liberalism, this concept of property becomes the guarantee of liberty and equality. The first part of this study shows that not only are the assumptions historically unfounded, but this conceptualist view of property made liberty and equality for women, in particular, impossible. The liberal, conceptualist property concept is a modernist construct that cannot guarantee either liberty or equality. The question then becomes whether constitutionalism can do what conceptualism cannot- can die constitutional protection of property guarantee liberty and equality. The second part of this study suggests that the answer to this is an "it depends" kind of answer. It depends on the structure of a constitution, underlying philosophical, political and, above all, hermeneutics theories employed by courts. In the South African context courts need to reject the private-law conceptualist view of ownership in favour of a constitutional property concept. This last-mentioned concept should be based on the values and normative context of the 1996 constitution. As such it involves value choices and making a political stand. Courts need to abandon conceptualist frameworks and decide on the proportionality of limitations on property. The conclusion to this study suggests that a feminist understanding of human beings as socially constructed and constrained, so that democracy alone cannot provide an answer to the counter-majaritarian dilemma, is necessary far an understanding of property. The creative tension provided by the feminist conflict between a political agenda and a respect far contexts may provide a framework far adjudicating an property issues. / Private Law / LL.D.

Thesis (LLM (Law))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / 139 leaves printed on single pages, preliminary pages i-ix and numbered pages 1-130. Includes bibliography. / Digitized at 600 dpi grayscale to pdf format (OCR), using a Bizhub 250 Konica Minolta Scanner. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: South Africa must address the need for adequate housing. Since democracy in 1994, the government has promulgated a number of acts to achieve the goal of adequate housing for all. These include the Prevention of Illegal Eviction from and Unlawful Occupation of Land Act (PIE) and the Rental Housing Act (RHA). The problem for the courts is knowing when to apply each act. To reach the goal embodied in the constitutional right of adequate housing for all, the government has invested R18 billion in housing since 1994. Despite this, the need for housing has escalated. The RHA, in which the legislature tried to create a balance between the rights of landlords and tenants, followed. This was done in order to alleviate some of the pressure to ensure access to land, which rests solely on the shoulders of the government. The legislature tried to create a sphere into which private investors would want to invest their money. A number of recent cases dealing with tenants who defaulted on their rentals and the landlord's capacity to effect eviction raised awareness about the existing inadequacies of the law in this particular field. In a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling, the court found that when a landlord wants to evict a defaulting tenant the time-consuming and costly procedure of PIE should be used. The assumption underlying this study is that PIE should not be applicable in cases of evicting a defaulting tenant. The rights and duties of the various parties involved in rental housing therefore need to be examined. The main aim is, however, to ascertain which procedure should be employed when obtaining an eviction order against a party holding over and what the effects are when the most appropriate eviction procedure is not used. A well-regulated relationship would ensure the best balance of interest for the landlord, tenant and the government by creating a market in which a landlord could make money out of letting and more tenants could obtain adequate housing through renting. A further assumption is that the rei vindicatio should be used when having a defaulting tenant evicted. It offers an alternative procedure that does not undermine the objectives of the housing legislation. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Suid-Afrika ervaar tans 'n probleem met die verskaffing van behuising vir almal. Sedert die land se verwerwing van demokrasie in 1994 het die wetgewer 'n hele reeks wette aangeneem om die probleem op te los, ondermeer die Wet op Huurbehuising en die Wet op die Voorkoming van Onwettige Uitsetting en Onregmatige Okkupasie van Grond (hierna verwys as PIE). Die howe ondervind soms probleme wanneer daar bepaal moet word wanneer 'n spesifieke wet van toepassing behoort te wees en wanneer. Ten spyte van die R18 miljard wat die regering reeds bestee het aan armes sonder huise, het die getal mense wat sonder geskikte behuising woon gegroei. Die wetgewer het deur die promulgasie van die Wet op Huurbehuising gepoog om 'n mark te skep waarin daar behuising verskaf sal word in die vorm van huurbehuising. Terselfdertyd sal die privaatsektor baie nodige geld in die huurmark kan investeer. Onlangse regsspraak in die verband dui daarop dat daar nog baie leemtes bestaan veral met verwysing na uitsetting. Na 'n resente Appelhof beslissing sal die verhuurder van die meer tydrowende en duurder prosedures in PIE gebruik moet maak om 'n persoon uitgesit te kry. Die onderliggende aanname is dat PIE nie van toepassing behoort te wees wanneer 'n verhuurder 'n huurder wat agterstallig is met die huur wil uitsit nie. Die regte van beide huurder en verhuurder word gevolglik bestudeer. Die hoof-oogmerk van die studie is egter om vas te stel watter uitsettingsprosedure die beste sal wees en wat die gevolge sal wees indien die prosedure nie gebruik word nie. 'n Goed gereguleerde huurmark sal sorg dat huurders genoegsame beskerming geniet, dat die verhuurder geld sal kan maak uit die huurmark en dat die regering se druk tot 'n mate verlig word. 'n Verdere aanname is dat die prosedure vir die rei vindicatio die korrekte prosedure is om te gebruik om 'n huurder wat versuim om sy/haar huur te betaal uit te sit. Die rei vindicatio word gevolglik bestudeer en daar word getoon dat die prosedure aansienlik van die van PIE verskil. Dit bied 'n alternatief en is nie van so aard dat dit die behuisings wetgewing se oogmerke belemmer nie.

The main question of this thesis is to what extent the rights-based and market-driven nature of the restitution program has given rise to a legalistic and bureaucratic process that negates both the demand-driven and the developmental aspects of restitution as land reform. I answer this question by showing that the choice of a Constitutional model with a Bill of Rights provides the background for a rights-based land reform program. This is especially true for the restitution sub-program, one of the three branches along with redistribution and tenure of the overall land reform program. I then consider the debate around the property clause, and how its inclusion provided the context for a market and rights-based approach to land reform as opposed to a supply-led administrative approach. Because the property clause as a First Generation right prevents expropriation of land without market-related compensation, a complex and legalistic land reform program falling within the ambit of Second Generation rights was formulated to address the gross imbalance in land ownership in South Africa. I argue that the contemporary origin of Second Generation human rights lies within the context of class and anti-globalisation struggles for democracy, and that they are something to be fought for and defended. I discuss the distinction between First, Second and Third Generation rights and identify four spheres within which the struggle for Second and Third Generation rights takes place within modern democratic states. These are the state, the representative public sphere, civil society and the private sphere. I then deal with the problem of trying to turn "paper rights" into realisable rights for the more disadvantaged sectors of society. I also look at what impedes their realisation. I argue that a number of strategies are necessary to ensure the delivery of Second and Third Generation rights. These are an adequate legislative framework, a good communication strategy, the development of institutional capacity to deliver, and if all else fails, access to conflict resolution mechanisms. I consider the major impediments to the realisation of Second and Third Generation rights to be the way in which they are defined in relation to First Generation rights, especially the property clause, the way in which access to rights-backed resources through formal institutions are mediated by the operation of informal institutions, and the dearth of administrative competence in South Africa. My point is that in order for Second and Third Generation rights to have practical benefit for the dispossessed and poor, extraordinary measures are needed. The Restitution arm of the land reform program provides in theory just such extraordinary measures, albeit for only a section of the population. I analyse the effectiveness of the Land Claims Court in assisting restitution claimants and the rural poor to realize their rights. I trace the slow and haphazard shift from a positivistic statutory interpretation (narrow, literal, legalistic) to a purposive interpretation (informed by the Constitutional spirit and social purpose of the legislation) by the Court. This is followed by an analysis of the restitution business process, which means tracing the path of the claim from lodgement to settlement. I set out the costly, complex and legalistic implementation and policy process in some detail. My argument is that in order for a rights-based approach to overcome the impediments outlined in Chapter 3, as well as the property clause in the Constitution, its architects designed a complex process that in the end proved counter-productive in terms of its original aims. The failure of the process to deliver led in 1998 the then Minister of Land Affairs, Derek Hannekom, to appoint a Ministerial Review to investigate the problems. Problems included: slowness of delivery, the crisis of unplannability, low levels of trust between implementers, and high levels of frustration. Two issues are analysed more fully, the rights-driven approach as opposed to the rights-based approach and the lack of claimant participation in taking control of the restitution process. I examine the relationship of the Restitution Commission to the Department of Land Affairs and to municipal land use planning processes. The emphasis on rights within the restitution program had the effect of distancing restitution, especially in the first few years of the programs' existence, from the rest of the land reform program, as well as from the local government process of formulating land development objectives (LDOs), and the Integrated Development Planning (lOP) process. I look at the Port Elizabeth Land and Community Restoration Association (Pelcra) as a case study as it embodies an approach that tries to move beyond a mere reclaiming of rights in land and attempts to implement a developmental approach. I conclude that the rights-based restitution program in spite of its many shortcomings has had some success. It has moved slowly from an overly legalistic judicial program to a more administrative but still bureaucratic process, that has delivered only 27 percent of its product as land reform, the rest going to monetary compensation mainly in urban areas. Thus it can be argued that restitution has been more successful as a program to promote reconciliation along the lines of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, than as a land reform program, especially if one regards land reform as the restoration of rural land to the indigenous population. There have also been some successful attempts by the Commission, such as in the case of PELCRA, to integrate the processing of its claims with local government planning processes, but progress in this direction remains patchy.

The conceptualist view of property is based on the conceptual system or hierarchy of rights conceived by Grotius and developed by the pandectists. It rests on the assumptions that ownership is neutral and timeless. As such it has a number of abstract, timeless and universal characteristics, namely absoluteness, uniformity and exclusivity. Combined with liberalism, this concept of property becomes the guarantee of liberty and equality. The first part of this study shows that not only are the assumptions historically unfounded, but this conceptualist view of property made liberty and equality for women, in particular, impossible. The liberal, conceptualist property concept is a modernist construct that cannot guarantee either liberty or equality. The question then becomes whether constitutionalism can do what conceptualism cannot- can die constitutional protection of property guarantee liberty and equality. The second part of this study suggests that the answer to this is an "it depends" kind of answer. It depends on the structure of a constitution, underlying philosophical, political and, above all, hermeneutics theories employed by courts. In the South African context courts need to reject the private-law conceptualist view of ownership in favour of a constitutional property concept. This last-mentioned concept should be based on the values and normative context of the 1996 constitution. As such it involves value choices and making a political stand. Courts need to abandon conceptualist frameworks and decide on the proportionality of limitations on property. The conclusion to this study suggests that a feminist understanding of human beings as socially constructed and constrained, so that democracy alone cannot provide an answer to the counter-majaritarian dilemma, is necessary far an understanding of property. The creative tension provided by the feminist conflict between a political agenda and a respect far contexts may provide a framework far adjudicating an property issues. / Private Law / LL.D.

The introduction of the first democratic Constitution and the land reform programme in South ' Africa provided the impetus for the development of a new perception of property. In terms of the traditional private law perception property rights are reduced to abstract, scientific concepts which form part of a hierarchical system of rationally and logically related concepts and definitions, the relationships between which remain largely unaffected by social and political realities. In this view the constitutional property clause is interpreted as a guarantee of existing individual property rights against unwarranted state interference. Proponents of the traditional private law view argue that this perception of property need not be replaced by a new constitutional perception of property, because the traditional private law perception is legitimated by the fact that it developed in an uninterrupted, linear line from Roman law. It is regarded as flexible enough to adapt to new and different social and political circumstances. However, the truth is that the development of property rights was disrupted by a number of discontinuities or fundamental breaks in different periods of its development. It is argued in this thesis that the introduction of the new constitutional order in South Africa can be regarded as another of these discontinuities, and that the strict adherence to the private law perception of property may be abandoned in favour of a new debate on property where the social and political function of property is emphasised more strongly. Land reform promotes the public interest in that it ensures the equitable use, distribution and exploitation of property. In most cases the implementation of land reform necessitates the limitation of property rights. A conservative judiciary's adherence to the traditional private law perception of property may lead to a constitutional conflict between the judiciary (that aims to afford existing property rights strong constitutional protection) and the legislature (that aims to promote the public interest by implementing land reform). Such a constitutional conflict can be avoided if the South African courts adopt an approach in terms of which the social and political role and function of property in society is recognised. / Private Law / LL.D.

The South African concept of freedom of testation is one of the most absolute concepts of freedom of testation in westernised legal systems. It is suggested that the South African concept of freedom of testation is a memento of capitalist patriarchy. As the South African legal system practices a nearly absolute concept of freedom of testation, capitalist patriarchy has maintained masculine control of property in South Africa and perpetuated the systems of male dominance prevalent in South Africa. Freedom of testation allows for wealth to pass from one male to another. It also allows entrenched gender roles to continue by excluding women from inheriting. Thus the South African law of testate succession and its central concept of freedom of testation allows for discrimination on the ground of gender. / Jurisprudence / LL.M

Summaries in Afrikaans and English / Text in Afrikaans / Die eiendomsklousule soos vervat in Artikel 28(1) van die Grondwet waarborg regte in eiendom. Daar word na die tradisionele eiendomsparadigma verwys, asook die leemtes in die konsep. Die "new property"-konsep word vervolgens in oenskou geneem. Sowel die gemenereg as die inheemse reg word, met verwysing na die begrippe "regte" en "eiendom", behandel. Daarna volg 'n bespreking van die konsep "regte in eiendom", wat die inhoud en omvang van die konsep aandui. In 'n afsonderlike hoofstuk word regte in grand bespreek. Die vraag of 'n konstitusionele reg ten aansien van huisvesting bestaan, geniet oak aandag. Ten slotte word regsvergelykend te werk gegaan en na buitelandse regsbronne verwys wat moontlik in die toekoms 'n rol by die uitleg van die Grondwet kan speel. Daar word gepoog om aan te dui dat die Grondwet as geheel ge"interpreteer en toegepas behoort te word. Die korrekte interpretasie en toepassing van die Grondwet word van uiterste belang beskou ten einde aan die doel van die Grondwet te voldoen. / The property clause is contained in Section 28(1) of the Constitution, which guarantees rights in property. The tradisional property paradigm is referred to, as well as its deficiencies. Thereupon the "new property" concept is taken account of. The common law and the customary law are dealt with, with reference to the concepts "rights" and "property". Subsequently a discussion of the concept "rights in property" follows, denoting this concept's contents and extent. Thereupon rights in land is dealt with. A constitutional right to housing is also attended to. Finally a comparative overview is given with reference to foreign case law, which may in future play a role in the interpretation of the Constitution. Attempts are made to indicate that the Constitution should be interpreted and enforced as a whole. In its correct interpretation and enforcement it is of utmost importance to have due regard to the objects of the Constitution. / Constitutional, International & Indigenous Law / LL.M.

Thesis (LLD (Public Law))—University of Stellenbosch, 2003. / Since the advent of constitutional democracy in 1994 South African courts have been faced with new interpretive imperatives.

Rural women‘s land rights in South Africa remain secondary in spite of laws founded on a constitution that promotes gender equality. Patriarchal customary laws prevail and women‘s land rights and use security are inextricably linked to their relationships with their male relatives. Rural women are key producers of agricultural products due to historical and continued male outward migration, which has led to a feminisation of agriculture. Although women farm the land, their land use security is poor and can be further threatened by divorce or widowhood. Given that most vulnerable women are based in rural communal South Africa, how can their land rights be secured under the customary law framework? While the statutory law framework seems to provide a solution, it is less applicable in rural areas where customary law and traditional practices prevail. If statutory law cannot be superimposed on the existing customary law framework, how can women‘s land use be further secured to support their household food security efforts? What kind of framework can be introduced to strengthen women‘s land use security? A study was conducted in rural Limpopo Province to explore this complex and yet important question. A mixed methods approach comprising interview style questionnaires with a mixture of closed and open-ended questions, coupled with focus group discussions and observation was employed. Qualitative data from the focus group discussions and open-ended questions was analysed for common themes using content analysis. Quantitative data was analysed using SPSS to establish descriptive data, frequencies and establish the relationships between variables. Results of the analyses were used for building blocks to develop a land rights framework that is more gender sensitive and secures the rights of the actual land users. Women‘s land rights were largely confirmed to be secondary and land use security was linked to the continued relationship to male relatives through marriage and natural blood lines. From these findings, a gender sensitive framework that enables and improves land-based food security efforts has been proposed. / Thesis (M.Sc.Agric.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2013.