The Restitution of Land Rights Act allowed previous owners of property who were unfairly forced from their land or who received less than a fair price for the land at the time, the right to claim the land back.
The opportunity to lodge such a claim ended some time ago but has been reopened, and new claims are being lodged against properties. The claims stutus of any property may change from day to day and establishing it with any accuracy is difficult.
Until now, land so claimed has been bought back from current owners and given back to claimants only if a sale price could be negotiated with the current owner on a willing buyer/willing seller basis. More often than not compensation was paid to the claimant if the land could not be bought, and the owner of the land was largely unaffected.
It seems that this may change if new legislation allows for the expropriation of land for this purpose.
The question of compensation to be paid to owners of expropriated land is a subject too broad to cover in this app. New legislation dealing with expropiration and valuation is anticipated and this area of law will change in the future. Be aware of these changes as they unfold.
What is important for your negotiation is whether the land is subject to any land claim to the knowledge of the seller, as this may affect the value of the property and the whether the buyer wants to buy it.
The Land Claims Commissioner can supply the information and can in theory be reached via
http://www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za/contact-us/land-claims-commissioner/national-office
or
http://www.ruraldevelopment.gov.za/contact-us/land-claims-commissioner/regional-offices
though replies from the commissioner’s office can take some time.
Even the seller may not be aware of the current land claim status of the property being sold, but if you are the purchaser, you might ask the seller to “warrant” (a legal promise) that no such claim exists or that the seller knows of no such claim.
As the buyer, at least negotiate the inclusion of a clause that obliges the seller to notify the buyer of any land claim lodged against the property before transfer, and that includes the right of the buyer to resile (walk away) from the agreement if this happens before transfer.
As the seller you would either refuse to give such a warranty or limit it to a warranty that no claim exists “to the best of your knowledge and belief.”
