Land restitution in South Africa is handled by the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, which sits within the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. Its national office is in Pretoria and it has a regional land claims commissioner in each province.
This page is not the Commission and cannot check a claim. ContactDetails.co.za is an independent directory. What follows is the structure of who does what, because land claim enquiries are routinely sent to the wrong body and lose months that way.
We have not published telephone numbers here. The department’s own website did not respond when we checked on 22 August 2026, so there was no official source to read current numbers from, and we do not republish government numbers from third-party directories.
Who does what
| What you need | Where it goes |
|---|---|
| Lodging, researching and settling a restitution claim | The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights, through the regional land claims commissioner for the province where the land is |
| The department that houses the Commission | The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development |
| Deciding a disputed claim, and confirming settlement agreements | The Land Claims Court, a specialist court with the status of a High Court |
| Land tenure, labour tenants and evictions from farms | The department’s land tenure and administration branch, not the restitution commission |
| Title deeds and registration of transfer | The Deeds Office for the province concerned |
| Traditional and communal land matters | The relevant provincial department together with the traditional authority |
What to have ready before you make contact
- The claim reference number, if the claim was lodged. Claims lodged in the original window that closed at the end of 1998 have reference numbers, and quoting one turns a general query into a file lookup.
- The description of the land: farm name and portion number, erf number, or the township and street. A place name alone is rarely enough to identify a property in the records.
- The name of the original claimant, exactly as it was recorded, and the names of the family members who lodged with them.
- Proof of your relationship to the claimant, if the original claimant has died. Identity documents, a death certificate and the letters of executorship are what the Commission asks for.
- Dates. When the dispossession happened, when the claim was lodged, and when you last heard anything.
Points that cause the most confusion
- Restitution and land reform are not the same programme. Restitution returns land, or compensates, for dispossession after 19 June 1913 under racially discriminatory laws. Redistribution and tenure reform are separate programmes with separate processes.
- A claim is only valid if it was lodged in an open lodgement window. The original window closed on 31 December 1998. A later reopening of lodgement was set aside by the Constitutional Court, and the position on new lodgements has been litigated since, so confirm the current position with the Commission rather than assuming.
- Settlement can be land or money. Many settled claims are resolved by financial compensation rather than the return of the land itself, particularly in urban areas where the property has been developed.
- Nobody should charge you to lodge or to check a claim. The Commission’s process is free. If someone is asking for a fee to speed up a claim, to trace one, or to release a payout, that is a fraud.
- Beware of anyone offering to buy your claim. Restitution payouts have attracted intermediaries offering cash upfront for a share, and families have signed away far more than they received.
Complaints and escalation
Raise it with the regional land claims commissioner first, in writing, quoting the claim reference. If it is not resolved, the Commission’s national office in Pretoria is the next step. Beyond that, the Public Protector investigates improper conduct and undue delay in state administration, and a disputed claim itself is decided by the Land Claims Court rather than by any department. Keep a written record of every contact, because a delay complaint is built entirely out of dates.
Related contact pages
Frequently asked questions
How do I check the status of an old land claim?
Contact the regional land claims commissioner for the province where the land is, quoting the claim reference number, the farm or erf description and the original claimant’s name. Without at least the land description, a status check is very difficult.
The original claimant has died. Can the family continue?
Yes. A claim does not end with the claimant’s death; it forms part of the estate and the beneficiaries continue it. The Commission will ask for the death certificate, the letters of executorship and the identity documents of those now representing the claim.
Can I still lodge a new claim?
The original lodgement window closed on 31 December 1998, and a later reopening was set aside by the Constitutional Court. The position on new lodgements has been the subject of ongoing litigation, so confirm the current position with the Commission directly rather than relying on anything you read second hand, including this page.
Someone says they can speed up my claim for a fee. Is that legitimate?
No. The restitution process is free and no payment speeds it up. Treat any request for a fee to lodge, trace, expedite or release a claim as fraud, and do not sign anything that assigns part of a payout to someone else.
Why does this page not list a telephone number?
Because the department’s website did not respond when we checked, so we had no official source to read a current number from. An unverified number is worse than none: it sends people to whoever happens to answer it.
Checked on 22 August 2026. Where a detail has changed, the Commission’s own published information is always the authority.