Deputy Speaker, the ANC supports both Bills. The introduction of these two Bills must be seen against the broader transformation programme that the ANC envisages in dealing with land and its registration and property rights, how these are administered and what should happen with this when a dispute arises.
The ANC in governing the state and the vast scope of its operations has to apply in a consistent and coherent way the necessary transformation tools that will both address the constitutional requirements and the policy objectives of the ANC.
In doing this, the need to transform historical systems that were designed under previous political regimes whose ideology and philosophical orientation does not reflect the building of a national democratic society means that there are a range of structural, systematic and process matters that will require major transformation. This is true of the two Bills that are before the House today for debate.
Chairperson, the process of administering systems whose designs do not reflect the values of the new South Africa has brought with it the need for specific changes to existing legislation.
Coupled with this is the campaign of the ANC to root out corruption where we find it within any given system of government. The extent of the administration of the government has become a haven for certain dishonest practices by individuals who do not have the interest of the state and the new democratic order in their hearts.
Painfully, we have come to realise that not all share the vision of the future national democratic state that we are trying to build and that they rather seek to undermine the systems that operate it to gain personally, temporary and short-term material benefits.
This has meant that, in particular when it comes to matters of property, property rights and their regulation, we have to ensure that we have the requisite legislation and regulations that will include in our society the values that we are trying to espouse.
This means that legislation will become one of the first areas we need to visit in order to strengthen our systems and install a culture that is commensurate with the national democratic society we are building.
Certainly, if we root out corrupt practices, tightening of legislation becomes necessary. It is from our experiences that we bring today before this House such legislation that will both reflect the spirit and intention of the new order, but also safeguard the state and the private citizen from corrupt and unscrupulous individuals.
It would be true to say that the integrity of the existing systems has come into disrepute in certain cases and, therefore, as the legislative arm of the state, we are duty bound as the ANC to ensure that this is corrected speedily.
The deeds registration is a system where documents are recorded in the land registry as the evidence of title, while the registration of the title is a system where the register itself is the primary evidence.
The South African system is regarded as one of the most effective systems in the world. It is against this backdrop that the proposed amendments, built on the achievements attained, enhance the future development of a better system of deeds registries.
The Bill amends the Deeds Registry Act of 1937 so as to conform to current uniform practices of deeds registration. The ANC in government has assessed the existing legislation and has clarified its mind that improvements to the existing legislations are both overdue and necessary. The improvement of the technical skills of staff and institutional arrangements will be enhanced by the proposed amendments. This in turn will assist in the increasing demands that are being brought onto the services of the deeds registries.
Through the land reform programme the state is transferring large tracts of land to previously disadvantaged communities, who will own land communally or individually. As a result, it impacts upon the work of the deeds registries. Experience has shown that we need a more complex registration system and, in particular, certain procedures that are going to deal with the bad practices. In turn, this requires the retaining and development of staff.
Further challenges in the deeds registry system relates to registrars not being obliged to follow practices, procedures and directives that are issued from time to time by the Chief Registrar of Deeds. This is untenable and it is a practice that cannot be allowed to continue. It leads to fragmentation and a breakdown in the line function of any state administration.
Therefore, varying practices and procedures only lead to poor service delivery and begin to render a system operating at a suboptimal level. Critical in any state administration is the need for mechanisms to be in place to ensure uniformity and conformity to practices and procedures. South Africa still operates in a dual property system, one formal system based on common law ownership and one system that resembles customary law adapted to suit the political needs of colonialism and apartheid, or colonialism of a special type as we like to refer to it. Clearly in a new democratic order this must change.
As we amend the Deeds Registry Act, it is important to remind ourselves of the challenges confronting people living in rural areas, in particular the former so-called homelands. The majority live under weaker forms of security of tenure in that they do not own the land they occupy in the title deed, whether communally or individually. This is in contradiction with the Constitution which guarantees entitlement to tenure reform.
A person of community, whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of the past racially discriminatory laws or practices, is entitled to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to tenure which is legally secure or to comparable redress.
Considerable progress has been made towards a unified, comprehensive, cost- effective and modern system of record keeping of the rights in land that will ensure security of title to land owners. However, there are still challenges with regard to the system of the rural areas. The extent to which rural people can apply for certificates of registered titles for their individual share in land is extremely limited because the majority of them do not own the land on which they live.
Speaker, whilst many would say that this Bill is technical in nature, in reality the Bill again begins to address the questions of class, race and gender, in that it deals with property rights, the rights of exclusive use, the rights of extension, and it also redefines boundaries.
All of this with our history and economic location have historically created tension and a conflict of interest. The settling of these matters brings into play issues of class, race and gender and, of course, access to legal backing.
Whilst our Constitution gives rights, it equally expects obligations - especially when we deal with property-vested interests that arise and which seek to threaten the spirit and intention of the nature and type of society we wish to build. Clearly, the state cannot be dragged into matters of private property disputes, but it equally has to oversee how disputes are settled and by whom as well as the fairness and the equality thereof.
Boundaries have huge implications and often lead to severe disagreements. It is the duty of the ANC government to have in place legislation that can ensure equity in dealing with property rights and access. This Bill amends the Sectional Titles Act of 1986 in order to amend definitions, redefine boundaries, deal with issues of common property and how it is demarcated and to regulate the substitution of bonds registered in respect of different pieces of legislation.
The Bill further provides for the issuing of certificates of real rights of extension and certificates of real rights of exclusive use of areas. Under the Bill, the issuing of a certificate of registered sectional title is in respect of an undivided share in a section.
The vesting of rights of exclusive use of reas where an owner ceases to be a member of a body corporate are also covered by this Bill, as is the provision of the cancellation of exclusive use of the area rights. From what I have just said, it becomes obvious that this is not a technical Bill. Rather, the ANC seeks to ensure that we have a more equitable manner in which to deal with vested interests when it comes to property rights under sectional title. I thank you. [Applause.]