Towards Safeguarding Rural Communities’ Social and Economic Interests Through Communal Property Law

Abstract

South Africa’s incessant Corporate Law Reforms do offer vast opportunities for rural communities to be actively involved in their own social and economic development. This article discusses the practicability of using a private company to promote and develop social and economic interests of rural communities. The fundamental question is: what constitute proper administration and socio-economic development in a rural context? It takes into account, the fact that the post-1994 democratic dispensation has made some effort to develop and strengthen the constitutional property rights, and the social and economic development of the previously disadvantaged rural communities. This encompassed the idea of, somewhat, relying on civil society institutions to manage and develop property rights of rural communities. Nonetheless, it should be noted that the success thereof is dubious since the development and operation of civil society institutions in these communities are constantly under threat and undermined by the tenacity of conflicts between administrators and the traditional leadership. It is asserted that there is an incessant need to resolve fundamental aspects relating to law, application of legal norms and achievement of social justice in a rural context.