President Cyril Ramaphosa: Title Deed Handover Ceremony

President Cyril Ramaphosa address at the Title Deed Handover Ceremony, 29 May 2026, Setlagole Sports Ground, North West

Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development, Mr Mzwanele Nyhontso,
Premier of the North West, Mr Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi,
Representatives of the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights,
Mayors and Speakers of local municipalities, 
Dikgosi and traditional leadership of the Barolong communities,
Recipients of title deeds,
Compatriots,
Dumelang. Molweni. Ndi masiari. Good morning. 
Today is a day of celebration.

We are celebrating because the dignity of communities is restored. 
For many of you this day has been a long time coming.

Today is the culmination of a struggle for land that has become a reality. 
When Chief Gaesegwe Henry Phoi submitted his community's land claim on 9 July 1996, he was acting on a constitutional promise this country had just made to itself.

Our Constitution, which was adopted 30 years ago, says that any person or community dispossessed of land after 19 June 1913 is entitled to restitution of that property or equitable redress.

So, when I hand over these title deeds today, I am fulfilling a Constitutional responsibility. 
But today is not just about the law. 
It is about a family being able to say: this land is ours.

It sends a clear message that never again will someone’s land be taken away based on the colour of their skin, background or location. 
More than a century ago, in 1913, the Natives Land Act stripped millions of black South Africans of their birthright. They were deprived of their land, their assets, their livelihoods and their community.

The effects of this law – and the subsequent laws of dispossession – are still visible across our country. 
Land dispossession is at the root of inequality in South Africa today.

That is the history we are correcting. 
Today’s event is unique in many ways. 
We are not here to hand over just one deed or to celebrate one community. 
Today, three distinct programmes of land reform converge in this district, addressing different dimensions of injustice and dispossession.

The first part of the programme involves the communities of Setlagole and Madibogo. 
For many years, families in these two villages built homes, erected structures, enrolled their children in local schools and lived their lives on land they did not formally own. 
Their rights to the land were occupational, informal and insecure.

Through the Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Programme, we are handing over 368 individual title deeds to households at Setlagole and Madibogo.

The townships that have been formally established here include business sites, creche sites, church sites, open spaces and facilities for government and municipal services.

We will continue to work to ensure every household in both townships has a deed in their hand. 
As part of the second programme, we are handing over title deeds to 20 farmers across all four district municipalities in the province.

The state land that they have been leasing for farming activities has now been converted to full freehold title. 
They are no longer tenants. They are now farm owners.

The third programme is land restitution. 
Today we are handing over title deeds to three Communal Property Associations.
They represent communities whose ancestors farmed this land, were removed from it by force and have spent decades working through the legal and administrative processes to get it back.

Today, we hand over seven title deeds, covering over 4,000 hectares, to the Gaesegwe Communal Property Association, representing the Barolong Ba Ga Phoi community.
The Barolong Ba Ga Rapulana Communal Property Association is receiving three title deeds covering 411 hectares. 
Over 26,000 hectares have already been restored to this community.

And we are handing over eleven title deeds, covering over 2,900 hectares, to the Barolong Ba Ga Seitshiro Communal Property Association.
However, we know that land alone is not enough.

A title deed in a drawer does not on its own transform a family or a community's fortunes. A farm with no equipment, no water, no capital and no support will not meet people’s needs. 
It does not close the inequality gap and it does not build the rural economy we need. 
The title deed is the foundation on which we must build. 
That is why we are handing over productive assets and confirming that post-settlement support is in place.

We are committed to making these farms work. 
We are committed to ensuring that the townships being established at Setlagole and Madibogo have the sites they need for businesses, community facilities and government services.

Formal title means these households can now access mortgage credit, small business finance and development grants that were previously unavailable. 
Our commitment is to walk alongside these communities not just today, but in the years ahead.

Section 25 of our Constitution guarantees legally secure tenure to every person whose tenure was made insecure by past discriminatory laws. It requires the state to foster conditions that enable equitable access to land.

When communities wait for years — sometimes decades — for those rights to be realised, that is a failure we must acknowledge honestly.  That is why we are working to fast-track the programme, resource it properly and streamline the processes.

The handover of title deeds today is significant. But it is not the end. 
We will accelerate the outstanding claims and restore the dignity of our communities. 
Our commitment to completing the work of land reform is undiminished. 
The Restitution of Land Rights Act remains in force.

Our Communal Land Administration and related legislative work continues. 

The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Agriculture and Land Reform is actively driving the conversion of state land leases to freehold title across the country.

Progress like this does not happen through the efforts of a single department or a single sphere of government. 

What you see today is the result of years of work by hundreds of dedicated officials, community representatives, professional practitioners and elected leaders across many institutions.

I want to acknowledge Minister Mzwanele Nyhontso and the entire team at the Department of Land Reform and Rural Development – particularly the North West Provincial Shared Service Centre and the Office of the Regional Land Claims Commissioner – for the sustained effort that brought us to this point.

We thank the town planners, land surveyors, conveyancers and property management officials whose technical work made these title deeds possible. 

We must acknowledge the Premier's Office, the North West Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Human Settlements for creating the conditions for integrated development.

I acknowledge the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality, Ratlou Local Municipality, Ditsobotla Local Municipality, Tswaing Local Municipality and the Surveyor General and Vryburg Deeds Office. 
The coordination of this event across all those institutions is a demonstration of what capable, committed government can achieve.

Above all, I acknowledge the Dikgosi and traditional leadership of these communities.

They held their communities together through the long years of waiting, gave legitimacy to the claim process and continue to serve as the custodians of the culture, land and social fabric of their people.

To every person whose claim is still outstanding: we have not forgotten you. 
In 1913, the Natives Land Act took from our people what they had built over generations. 
In 1996, the democratic Constitution gave a clear instruction to return the land to individuals and communities.

Today, we are using the laws and institutions of our democracy to restore what was taken. 

We are not only correcting a historical injustice. We are building a fairer, more sustainable and more prosperous future for these communities. And in doing so, we are building a better country for all.

Ke a leboha. Siyabonga. Re a leboga.

Ndiyabulela.

I thank you. 

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