Property
Deeds registration over freehold with communal land under land boards
Freehold land is held under Roman-Dutch ownership and registered in the Deeds Registry. Communal land, which covers much of the north, is administered under the Communal Land Reform Act through Communal Land Boards that issue customary land rights and leaseholds. Commercial agricultural land is subject to a state right of first refusal on sale.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Deeds Registry records freehold; Communal Land Boards administer communal tenure; the Lands Tribunal hears disputes.
Governing law
- Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937
- Communal Land Reform Act 5 of 2002 — Communal Land Boards; customary land rights
- Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act 6 of 1995 — state preferent right
In practice
Namibia's land question is structurally about the boundary between the two systems: registered freehold concentrated in the commercial farming areas, and communal tenure elsewhere, with the state's preferent right the main instrument of redistribution rather than expropriation.