IRR’s Right to Own Bill a blueprint for property ownership and clearing title-deed backlog

Property rights must be expanded, secured and protected. These are the aims of the proposals in the Right to Own Bill launched this week by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) to challenge the Expropriation Act’s attempts to erode property rights.

In an initiative that formed part of launching the draft legislation, the IRR took to the streets of Braamfischerville in Soweto this week to engage with community members, many of whom say they still don’t have secure title despite being relocated to the area as part of the Alexandra Renewal Project nearly 25 years ago.

The Bill empowers citizens by mandating the rapid issuing of title deeds and the formalisation of townships and informal settlements. It directs infrastructure development including roads, electricity and water to deprived communities, such as Braamfischerville, and establishes a digital database of land records. It guards against land theft and land grabs by instituting a Special Directorate for the Protection of Property Rights within the National Prosecuting Authority.

By so doing, the Bill addresses many of the challenges faced daily by people of Braamfischerville and of the many other communities like it across the country.

Says Makone Maja, Strategic Engagements Manager at the IRR: “When the property rights of a few are compromised, we are all vulnerable. Yet in South Africa, millions of families remain deprived of security of tenure. Such conditions undermine property rights and stifle development and investment.

“The lesson from our visit to Braamfischerville is that the community pays a high price for the degradation of property rights, a cost reflected in societal disharmony, high levels of crime, joblessness and hopelessness, particularly among the youth,” says Maja.

The Right to Own Bill entrenches property rights as the cornerstone of human rights and the source from which rights to dignity, equality, and life and security flow. Property rights unlock security of tenure and home ownership, thereby enriching all communities with wealth-creating and legacy-generating opportunities.

Where the Expropriation Act robs citizens of secure tenure, the Right to Own Bill restores it. The Expropriation Act enables the taking of property for no compensation and offers no resolution to the title-deed backlog. The Right to Own Bill provides for market-value compensation as a benchmark and grants title deeds to deserving property holders.

The first part of a series on the launch of the Bill can be viewed on YouTube here.

The Right to Own Bill is part of the IRR’s What South Africa Can Be campaign. This campaign envisions a South African future under the right policies, such as the Right to Own Bill. We are confident that under such policies all South Africans would thrive and prosper.

Read, and endorse, the Bill on the IRR’s website, here.

Media contact: Makone Maja, IRR Strategic Engagements Manager Tel: 079 418 6676 Email: makone@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za