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LEAP came into existence in 1988 when a group of KwaZulu-Natal land practitioners from NGOs, government and the private sector began to focus on why the communal property institutions (CPIs) set up under land reform appeared to be failing. The Legal Entity Assessment Project, as it was initially known, questioned the widely held view that the land reform communal property associations (CPAs) and trusts needed capacity building. Instead, LEAP argued that there were no clear indicators for assessing success or failure and that these micro institutions were overloaded with development objectives that often were the proper responsibility of government. In the search for firm foundational objectives, LEAP suggested that tenure security for individuals and the group as an entity was the primary purpose of CPIs, and that other development objectives could be built on this foundation.
Thinking practically and conceptually about how to achieve this took LEAP on a long journey that gradually pulled in people from across the country in both the rural and urban sectors who were working on land administration, customary tenure, housing and tenure arrangements.
LEAP is no longer in existence but its work remains of value to current initiatives to reform and secure tenure and recognise off-register rights in South Africa. Key documents from its archives have been uploaded to the Land Portal.
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Resources
Displaying 1 - 5 of 14Learning about promoting tenure security for the poor and vulnerable
A report with annexures reviewing lessons emerging Leap projects and partnerships, focusing on tenure in relation to a set of issues affecting poor people’s livelihoods and local economic development
Perspectives on Land Tenure Security in Rural and Urban SA
Approaches to securing tenure have been dominated by debates about whether titling advances secure land tenure and development in developing countries or whether it is either ineffectual or detrimental to socially more relevant systems. While the policies of many developing countries, including South Africa, continue to support titling approaches to securing tenure, there is widespread confirmation in the literature that title can be problematic for poor people living in both urban and rural areas.
Perspectives on Land Tenure Security in Rural and Urban South Africa
Subtitled ‘an analysis of the tenure context and a problem statement for Leap.’ Comprises (i) context – current analyses of tenure, the South African context, tenure security and vulnerability; (ii) multiple tenure arrangements in South Africa – customary tenure arrangements, Registration of Deeds system, local and off register tenure arrangements in rural and urban areas, transitional tenure arrangements; (iii) problem statements – multiple tenure arrangements, vulnerability and tenure; (iv) points of departure for phase 4 – understanding, recognition and integration, vulnerability.
Traditional land matters – a look into land administration in tribal areas in KwaZulu-Natal
This paper is concerned primarily with the functions of land administration. Its
purpose is to describe the current land administration practices as understood by
traditional structures with a view to unpacking some of the components of the existing
African tenure arrangements in KwaZulu-Natal. This, it is hoped, will help to create a
base to understand how communal land systems operate, regardless of which structure
governs them, in order to support practices that secure tenure effectively.
Traditional Land Matters – A Look into Land Administration in Tribal Areas in Kwazulu-Natal
Describes current land administration practices as understood by traditional structures to unpack some components of existing African tenure arrangements in KwaZulu-Natal. Hoped this will help better to understand how communal land systems operate, regardless of which structure governs them, in order to support practices that secure tenure effectively.