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This article participates on the following special index pages:
2002 Presidential & Harare Municipal elections - Index of articles
Rural
Land Occupiers (Protection from Eviction) Act
February 04, 2002
Date
of commencement: 5th June 2001.
As amended in s. 4(a)(iii) by s. 30 of the General Laws Amendment Act
2002, from 4th February 2002.
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TO PROTECT certain
occupiers of rural land from eviction; and to provide for matters connected
therewith or incidental thereto.
ENACTED by the President
and Parliament of Zimbabwe.
1. Short
title
2. Interpretation
3. Restraint
on eviction, etc. of certain occupiers of rural land
4. Period
of protected occupation
5. Evidence
of protected occupation
6. Act
not to bind the State
1 Short
title TOP
This Act may be cited
as the Rural Land Occupiers (Protection from Eviction) Act [Chapter 20:26].
2 Interpretation TOP
(1) In this Act—
"fixed
date" means the 1st March, 2001;
"protected occupier" means a person referred to in subsection (1)
of section 3.
(2) Any word or expression
to which a meaning has been assigned in the Land Acquisition Act [Chapter 20:10]
shall have the same meaning when used in this Act.
3 Restraint on eviction, etc. of certain occupiers
of rural land TOP
(1) A person occupying
rural land who, but for this Act, would be subjected to any legal proceedings
for an order referred to in subsection (2), shall be a protected occupier
of rural land for the period referred to in section 4, if—
(a) he was
occupying the land on the fixed date and is still occupying the land at
the date of commencement of this Act; and
(b) he occupied such land in anticipation of being resettled by an
acquiring authority on that or any other land for agricultural purposes
in terms of the Land Acquisition Act [Chapter 20:10]; and
(c) he qualifies for settlement on that or any other land in accordance
with the relevant administrative criteria fixed by an acquiring authority
for the resettlement of persons for agricultural purposes.
(2) Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary in any other law, but subject to this Act, no
court shall issue any order for the recovery of possession from a protected
occupier of any rural land, or the ejectment therefrom of a protected
occupier, or the payment of damages by such protected occupier in respect
of the occupation or trespass of such land during any period referred
to in section 4.
(3) Any order referred
to in subsection (2) that was issued in relation to any protected
occupier before the date of commencement of this Act shall be suspended
and of no force or effect during any period referred to in section 4.
(4) Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary in any other law, but subject to this Act, no
protected occupier shall be liable for any statutory or non-statutory
offence of trespass upon or unauthorised entry into rural land in respect
of which he is a protected occupier.
(5) Subsection (4)
shall apply notwithstanding any court order that was issued in relation
to any protected occupier before the date of commencement of this Act.
(6) For the purposes
of this section, "land" does not include any building permanently
attached to the land.
4 Period of protected occupation TOP
The period during which
a person shall be a protected occupier of rural land—
(a) in relation
to which a preliminary notice identifying such land as being required
for resettlement purposes or an acquisition order was issued on or before
the date of commencement of this Act, shall be—
(i) the period
during which such preliminary notice is in force in terms of the Land
Acquisition Act [Chapter 20:10]; or
(ii) the period during which such acquisition order is pending before
the Administrative Court for confirmation in terms of the Land Acquisition
Act [Chapter 20:10]; or
(iii) if the Administrative Court refuses to grant an order authorising
or confirming the acquisition of the land, a period of one year after
the date of such refusal; or
[Paragraph
(iii) as amended by s. 30 of the General Laws Amendment Act, 2002,
by the substitution of "one year" for "six months",
with effect from 4th February, 2002.]
(iv) a period
of six months after such preliminary notice or acquisition order is
withdrawn or revoked in terms of the Land Acquisition Act [Chapter 20:10],
unless, within that period, a fresh preliminary notice or acquisition
order is issued in respect of the same land;
as the case may be;
or
(b) in relation to which no preliminary notice identifying such land
as being required for resettlement purposes has been issued at the date
of commencement of this Act, shall be a period of six months from the
date of commencement of this Act: Provided that—
(i) if within
that period an acquiring authority issues such notice in respect of
that land, the provisions of paragraph (a) shall apply;
(ii) if a person who is a protected occupier of land referred to
in this paragraph subsequently occupies land referred to in paragraph (a)
before the expiry of a period of six months from the date of commencement
of this Act, such person shall be deemed to be a protected occupier
of that land in terms of that paragraph.
5 Evidence of protected occupation TOP
If in any proceedings
for the recovery of possession of rural land identified for resettlement
purposes, or the ejectment therefrom of any person, or the payment of damages
.by any person in respect of the occupation or trespass of such land, an
acquiring authority certifies that—
(a) the person
concerned—
(i) was occupying
the land on the fixed date and was still in occupation of the land at
the date of commencement of this Act, or is occupying the land pursuant
to proviso (ii) to paragraph (b) of section 4; and (ii) occupied
such land in anticipation of being resettled by an acquiring authority
on that or any other land for agricultural purposes in terms of the
Land Acquisition Act [Chapter 20:10]; and (iii) qualifies
for resettlement in terms of paragraph (c) of subsection (1)
of section 3;
or
(b) the period during which the person concerned is a protected occupier
of rural land in terms of section 4 has not expired;
it shall be presumed,
unless the contrary is shown, that the person concerned is a protected occupier,
or that the period during which the person concerned is a protected occupier
has not expired, as the case may be.
6 Act not to bind the State TOP
(1) This Act shall
not bind the State.
(2) For avoidance
of doubt, no person shall—
(a) be a protected
occupier of any land held by or registered in the name of the State; or
(b) continue to be a protected occupier of land which had been subjected
to an acquisition order, after the date on which the title of the State
to such land is registered in terms of section 10 of the Land Acquisition
Act [Chapter 20:10].
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