The unveiling of a high-tech mobile lodgement office is expected to increase accessibility to citizens who live in far-flung rural areas who wish to submit land claims.

Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti unveiled one of the four mobile buses at the Parliamentary precinct in Cape Town on Tuesday.

The other three buses will be launched in other provinces – the Eastern Cape, Free State and the North West.

The launch of the mobile offices follows the opening of 14 lodgement offices across nine provinces.

Minister Nkwinti also said the mobile offices were specially equipped vehicles fitted with technology to enable the processing of applications for land claims on site.

“You must remember that during the first window, there was no campaigning by government. In other words, taking the policy and opportunity to where people are did not happen.

“The result is that people in deep rural areas and even those in small and rural townships, who could not afford to go where the [lodgement] offices were, missed out on the opportunity.

“Now we have the mobile bus and the smaller trucks to go out there, talk to people and to basically campaign to tell them there is an opportunity to claim.

“So this is taking services to the people rather than inviting people to come to the office,” he said.

The unveiling of the mobile units comes after President Jacob Zuma assented the Restitution Amendment Act into law on 30 June 2014 and in the process, re-opening the restitution process for a further period of five years to give those that did not lodge their claims in the first window an opportunity to do so.

During the first window – which ended on 31 December 1998 – the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights received 80 000 land claims.

On Tuesday, Minister Nkwinti said between July 2014 and 8 April 2015, 54 439 claims had been received.

The mobile units are fitted with the technology required to capture the claims on site – including computers and printers.

The bus is also fitted with an electronic ramp that can elevate persons with disabilities from the ground into the mobile office.

The Minister said lodging a claim is a free government service and that qualifying individuals have until 30 June 2019 to lodge a claim.

“We are aware that there are people who are going around taking money from vulnerable members of our society with the promise to lodge land claims on their behalf.

“The message to our people is that you do not need to pay money to lodge a land claim.

“Claims can only be lodged at any of our 14 official lodgement sites across the country or at the mobile lodgement offices where professionally trained staff will be on-hand to assist you,” he said.