Pretoria: Ngaka Modiri Molema In a major stride towards correcting historical injustices, the government has officially handed over title deeds to the Gaesegwe, Barolong ba ga Rapulana, Barolong ba ga Phoi, and Barolong ba ga Seitshiro communities at the Ngaka Modiri Molema District Municipality in the North West province.

According to South African Government News Agency, the day was billed as a 'day of celebration' by President Cyril Ramaphosa, who presided over the ceremony, marking a milestone in the government's efforts to accelerate land reform. President Ramaphosa stated, "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."

South Africa's Constitution guarantees that any person or community dispossessed of land after 19 June 1913 is entitled to restitution or equitable redress. The apartheid government's 1913 Natives Land Act stripped millions of black South Africans of their land, assets, livelihoods, and communities, with the effects of that law still visible across the country today.

President Ramaphosa emphasized, "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."

More than 368 title deeds were handed over to families, transitioning their occupational rights into secure, formal ownership. Furthermore, some 20 local farmers who previously leased state land received full freehold titles, effectively elevating them from tenants to commercial landowners.

Additionally, the President handed over title deeds to three Communal Property Associations representing communities who were removed from their land by force and have spent decades working through legal and administrative processes to regain it.

President Ramaphosa remarked, "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."

The President assured those still waiting for their Constitutional promise to be fulfilled that "we have not forgotten you." He added, "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."