South African Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, has said foreign nationals who legally own property in South Africa are free to sell their assets before leaving the country, stressing that only legally registered properties are recognised under South African law.
Speaking on the matter, Ntshavheni explained that all legitimate assets in the country are officially documented through relevant government systems.
“If you own a property in South Africa, it’s registered. If it’s a house, it’s registered with the Deeds Register. If you own a car, it’s registered in the NATIS system. If you own a business, it’s registered with the CIPC. If you’re renting offices, they’re registered with landlords,” she said.
The minister also called for information on locations allegedly linked to drug-related activities involving some Nigerians in the country.
“We’ll be interested to know where the drug dens of Nigerians are so they can show us where they’ve been holding the drugs so that we can clean the drugs in South Africa quite urgently,” Ntshavheni said.
She emphasised that only legally recognised properties qualify for protection under South African law, noting that informal settlements and squatter camps are considered illegal.
“Those who had properties in South Africa, those properties are in the law. Informal squatter camps and informal settlements are never properties because they are illegal in the country. So you are already violating our law if you’re going to tell us about a shack in some informal settlement,” she stated.
According to Ntshavheni, the government would continue removing illegal settlements in line with court rulings.
“When we evict and remove informal settlements, there’s no longer going to be informal settlements built in the areas, including the evictions in the informal settlements, in line with our court judgments,” she said.
She added that the government would not compensate owners of illegal structures.
“There’s no compensation that will come from government,” Ntshavheni said.
The minister further stated that legally registered assets could still be sold through the country’s property market.
“Those who leave their properties, if they are properly, legally registered in the country, they can dispose of the properties in the property market in South Africa, whether it’s a movable or immovable property,” she added.
