The Department of Rural Development and Land Reform said part of the plan was to overhaul the land registration system in the deeds office and reintroduce the “racial classification” of ownership, which stopped in 1994.
This was announced by Mdu Shabane, the director-general of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, while briefing the ad hoc committee on land reform on Monday.
The committee was set up earlier this year to co-ordinate and oversee the “reversing (of) the legacy of the Natives Land Act”.
Shabane said it was proposed that the process would be led by a land management commission, which would have the powers to subpoena all South Africans to provide information about their land holdings.
The commission would be set up in line with the Land Management Commission Bill, which the department was almost ready to submit for cabinet approval.
Shabane said it was also critical to determine how much land was owned by non-South Africans.
“We believe that as much as many argue that what non-South Africans own is insignificant, it may be strategic,” said Shabangu.
He said this land would be dealt with in the second phase of the land restitution process.
The government expects that thousands more claims will be submitted once the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill becomes law.
The bill seeks to extend, from December 1998 to December 2018, the deadline for lodging land restitution claims.
Shabane said the land management commission would be led by a serving judge.