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[1]              Section 25(7) of the Constitution provides that persons or communities who were ‘dispossessed of property after 13 June 1913 as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices’ are entitled, ‘to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to restitution of that property or to equitable redress’. The Act of Parliament referred to is the Restitution of Land Rights Act 22 of 1994 (the Restitution Act).[1] It provides, inter alia, for the administrative machinery and processes for land claims contemplated by s 25(7) of the Constitution.

[2]              The appellant, the Makhuva-Mathebula Community (the community), lodged a land claim in terms of the Restitution Act with the first respondent, the Regional Land Claims  Commissioner, Limpopo  (the RLCC),  who  later  published the  claim  in the Government Gazette (the Gazette). The community was of the view that the claim that was published did not correspond to the claim that it made. It took the RLCC’s decision to publish the claim on review. The Land Claims Court dismissed that application. It also dismissed an application for leave to appeal, but leave was granted by this court on petition.