The Constitutional Court has today declared that the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act is invalid because the proper consultation was not followed before passing the law.
The court ruled that the old land claims should be handled first before new ones are processed.
The Restitution Act was enacted in 1994 and provides that anyone who was dispossessed of land after 1913 because of previous racially discriminative laws were entitled to claim restitution or fair repayment.
In 2014 the act was passed into law, allowing for new land claims to be made. The ConCourt said it was this process that was not followed with proper public participation.
No further land claims can be made and those made after 2014 will not be processed until parliament re-enacts the law.
It has two years to do so.
