Expert and Activist Conference

The DOI organised an Expert and Activist Conference. The conference comprised 8 presentations divided into three sessions. Session one, dealt with the legal process to achieve law reform, where we are now, and are we implementing the most suitable economic models to achieve real gains for land claimants.

The presenters for the session were: The Director of the Centre for Constitutional Rights Ms Phephelaphi Dube; Professor Elmien Du Plessis from the North West University; Doctor Nerhene Cindy Davis from the Centre for Geo-Information Sciences at the University of Pretoria. Session two, dealt with the intersection of mining as a land use on land falling under Traditional Leadership and community consultation.

The presenters for the session were: Ms Nancy Coulson, Senior Lecturer: University of The Witwatersrand Johannesburg; Johan Lorenzen an Associate at Richard Spoor Inc Attorneys and panelist Ms Ingrid Watson from the Centre for Sustainability in Mining and Industry. Session three, dealt with socio-economic transformation through inclusive and equitable access to land for women. The presenters were: The Director of the Women’s Legal Centre, Ms Seehaam Samaai and Ms Emily Tjale, gender activist and national coordinator for the Land Access Movement of South Africa.

The Land Inquiry 2017 delegates were exposed to the legislative, policy and practice related to, amongst others, the injustices of racially based land dispossession of the past; the need for a more equitable distribution of land ownership; the need for land reform to reduce poverty and contribute to economic growth; security of tenure for all; and a system of land management that will support sustainable land use patterns and rapid land release for development.

The experts and activists that presented richly contributed to the benchmarking, and the details of the programme can be accessed here.