Objectives of the notification period

Before starting the certification, there must be sufficient notification given to the people affected. These people, who may be affected, are NOT just the villagers living there who want to claim a certificate for their land – they are also:

• Members of the village that are not living in the village, but who also may want to claim a Certificate for their land;
• Members of the village who use ‘common’ land for some purpose, which might be claimed by someone during the process;
• People who ae not members of the village that use land, with customary permission, within the village area;

It is therefore important that the notification process is able to reach all those people that might be affected.

Forms of notification

Notification that the certification process is going to be conducted in any particular village comprises a mixture of direct interactions with villagers (by the VLC, indunas, and the CDLA Technical Team) and the issuance of a standard formal notice posted in conspicuous places in the village.

The Formal Certification Notice:

• Specifies the area of land to which it is proposed to apply the certification, based on the village maps;

• Summarises the procedures to be followed in the process of parcel identification and adjudication, including eligibility of parcels and individuals/households; and

• Indicates the anticipated timeframe for the various steps of

  • demarcation of parcels and making claims;
  • publication of the Village Parcel Map and Village Parcel Index (draft of the claims details);
  • the period for Objections, Corrections & Confirmation;
  • the issuance of the Certificates.

The start and end dates for the demarcation and claims in the field are included in the notice.

The start and end dates for publication of the Village Parcel Map & Index and the period for Objections, Corrections & Confirmation are communicated once the work to process the Provisional Adjudication Record is completed by the CDLA Data Team.

The roles of different people

The role of the following persons/institutions is important:

• Chiefs – issue the Formal Certification Notice
• Indunas, Headpersons, & VLCs – convene the Formal Certification Meeting on behalf of the Chief
• A representative of the CDLA Field Team is always involved during the Notification Meeting to support the VLCs/indunas in explaining the overall process and purpose of the certification exercise.

Information meetings

A considerable amount of non-written (oral) communication and awareness-raising is required, even if this is only informal outreach via one or more meetings at village level. These meetings are conducted by the VLCs, working with the CDLA CFs.

There should be a minimum of two information meetings for each village, with at least a week between these to allow people to digest and for the word to spread amongst potential claimants.

The goals of these meetings are to:

• Inform the villagers of the certification process and answer questions they may have.
• Inform the villagers on the preparations that they can undertake before the process starts.
• Leave additional information for the villagers to disseminate to others.
• Prepare the VLC for their role in the certification process.
• Inform the villagers of the timeline for demarcation and registration.

Basic messages are pre-prepared and include:

• Information on certification: the process, outcomes, and implications and on what the certification is not.
• Instruction and advice on what is required of land holders and users.
• Advice on the need to resolve all outstanding disputes prior to the certification process.
• Information in respect to the eligibility of claimants.
• Information in respect to the eligibility of parcels for demarcation and certification, clearly explaining the exceptions (conflict areas, parcels that remain disputed).
• Advice on the role of the headpersons, indunas, VLCs, and community surveyors.
• Advice on the role and mandate of the VLC in respect to adjudication.
• Advice on the role of the chiefs and indunas in the process.
• Dates and timing for training and timetables for all of the above.
• Introduce members of the VLCs and the community surveyors.

The process can make use of a variety of ways of transmitting these messages, in addition to the meetings. For use during piloting in the selected villages, there are:

• A series of posters
• A theatre presentation & information session

In the future, there could also be more a comprehensive campaign of making information available throughout an entire area, using local radio announcements and other methods of comprehensive and widespread campaigning.