Using local practices and records to secure individual tenure rights in common property situations

Communal tenure in South Africa has had rises and falls in favour. This section will look at the issue from a pragmatic perspective of choice. This involves assessing what issues inform whether South Africa can chose either to replace or to ignore communal tenure by analysing what is likely to remain the same politically, socially and economically for the foreseeable future and what the forces are changing this situation. This assessment then allows us to assert some practical, general principles that inform the two projects with which this paper is concerned.