100 years ago, the Natives Land Act of 1913 created socio-economic injustice in terms of poverty and dispossession of land from Black South Africans. The main task of the Court in this regard is: "To adjudicate whatever legal issues are contained in the cases and ensure that land is awarded to those who satisfy the statutory requirements. "The Land Claims Court (LCC) was established in 1996 and its primary focus is dealing with these, land restitution and land claims cases. The main task of the Court in this regard is: "To adjudicate whatever legal issues are contained in the cases and ensure that land is awarded to those who satisfy the statutory requirements."
The difference between land restitution and land redistribution is:
Restitution involves people claiming back land taken away from them after June 1913, or compensation for their loss. Land redistribution involves acquiring and transferring land from white farmers to black farmers, for a variety of purposes, including farming and settlement. (12 Mar 2018)
The law lists five groups of people who can claim: Dispossessed individuals; A direct descendant of a dispossessed person who had rights to the property; A community executor; An administrator or executor of a deceased person's estate or someone like a trust or a company.
The Court also deals with the Extension of Security Tenure Act and the Labour Tenants Act. These two acts were enacted by Parliament to protect farm dwellers/workers from ill-treatment and illegal evictions. The Land Claims Court was conferred with the jurisdiction thereof. However, the various Magistrate Courts around the Country also have jurisdiction in terms of the Extension of Security Tenure Act, although their orders pertaining evictions are subject to automatic reviews by this Court.
Primarily, the Court has to ensure that the rights of Farm dwellers and workers are protected, in that all evictions are done within the framework of the aforementioned legislation. In carrying out its mandate, the Court therefore conducts hearings to adjudicate all matters related to the aforementioned Legislation in various Provinces, Districts, Cities and Towns of the Country.
References
https://nationalgovernment.co.za/units/view/56/land-claims-court-lcc#:~:text=The%20Land%20Claims%20Court%20(LCC,claimants%20or%20affected%20land%20owners.
https://www.gov.za/
Further Reading
http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/she/v39n2/20.pdf
https://www.jstor.org/stable/3542478