Phase 1 State Land Audit Report

Theme: Economy Date Added: 2018-11-19

What is it?

A report analysing data compiled during the Phase 1 State Land Audit conducted by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.

Key Points

  • Report was released in 2013
  • Analyses land ownership by the State
  • Uses Phase 1 State Land Audit dataset
  • Data collection started in 2010

Why is it Important?

The Phase 1 State Land Audit is the first phase of a national initiative to develop a complete picture of land ownership and use in South Africa. The audit report provides aggregate data in tables and graphs, which enables quick comparisons between provinces and ownership types.


How can it be accessed and used?

A report summary presentation can be found on the Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) site and the full report can be accessed on the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform site (or on the PMG site).

The focus of the audit was on understanding what land is owned by government and related State entities, which the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform estimates at about 18% of the total land extent in South Africa. The audit was conducted in two parts:

  1. A study of the Deeds Offices' records was conducted in 2010, in order to identify all pieces of land registered in the name of the State.
  2. Every piece of identified State land was then confirmed by a site visit where all information relating to occupant/user and contact details, existing buildings and services, whether it was in fact State or private land, occupation agreements, etc. were determined.

The report is useful for viewing aggregate analysis and interpretation of data sourced during the Phase 1 State Land Audit. There are interesting tables and findings to explore in the report. For example, on Page 9 a (difficult to read) table quantifies the extent of state land vs. private land per province, as well as the "unaccounted" extent. For the Eastern Cape, 24% of land is classified as unaccounted.

You can also look at extracts of the underlying dataset on the Phase 1 State Land Audit Dataset resource card.

Phase 1 State Land Audit Report - Table 1: Private Land vs State Land

Location: South Africa
Format: PDF
Year: 2013Last Checked:2/7/2018
Online: Access URL
Column/
File Names:
  • Province: One of the nine provinces in South Africa
  • State Owned Land Extent (Ha): Number of hectares owned by the State (incl. local, provincial or national government, state-owned entities or traditional authorities)
  • Private Owned Land Extent (Ha): Number of hectares owned by private entities (as individuals, trusts, organisations)

Phase 1 State Land Audit Report - Table 5: Land use per province

Location: South Africa
Format: PDF
Year: 2013Last Checked:2/7/2018
Online: Access URL
Column/
File Names:
  • Land User: The sector or activity for which the land is used, e.g. Agriculture & Fisheries, Undeveloped Land, Residential
  • Province abbreviation & Hectares: The abbreviated name of the province and the number of hectares allocated to this sector or activity.
  • land
  • rural
  • urban
  • agriculture
  • property
  • monitoring
  • planning

Resource contact name:Department of Rural Development and Land Reform

Creation or start date:2018-11-19

Resource contact updated at:2018-12-14

Spatial coverage  South Africa http://www.geonames.org/953987/south-africa.html

Where else has the resource been used?

Year Project Name::
2014 State Land Audit progress report; Ingonyama Trust Board 2014 quarterly performance, with Deputy Minister
2015 Compiling a land audit in large rural areas: Results from the methodology applied in the non-urban areas of the Matzikama municipal area