Parliament calls for review of Ingonyama Trust legislation

CAPE TOWN - Parliament has called for the review of the legislation that governs the Ingonyama Trust.

The land reform and rural development committee is also urging the trust to abide by a court ruling which set aside the trust’s decision to rent out land to residents.

The trust manages about 2.8 million hectares of land in KwaZulu-Natal on behalf of the Zulu monarch and communities living on that land.

The KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Act came into effect in 1994 and established the Ingonyama Trust, with the Zulu king as the sole trustee.

Land reform and rural development committee chairperson, Albert Mncwango, told a media briefing in Parliament on Monday that it was time to review the policy.

The call follows an oversight visit to the trust by the committee and also recent governance and legal challenges, including the unlawful suspension of board members by the king.

Mncwango said that beneficiaries must be central in the review.

"But one of the things that came from the oversight visit is the need for legislative review. So the issue of the material benefits to those communities listed in the legislation is also vitally important."

He said the trust had a list of about 300 communities that were beneficiaries to its operations and the committee also engaged with some of those communities.