Rising Tides: The Acquisition of Ownership by Alluvio in the Context of Sea Level Rise

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2023/v26i0a16463

Keywords:

Climate crises, sea level rise, coastal property, coastal accretion, coastal erosion, integrated coastal management

Abstract

One of the most significant consequences of the global climate crisis is that the rate at which sea levels are rising has accelerated over the past 100 years and will continue to do so for the next century. The accelerated rise in the global mean sea level will inevitably affect the rights and interests of the owners and occupiers of coastal land, especially of coastal land that is bounded by the high-water mark (agri non limitati). This is because changes in the location of the high-water mark brought about by rising sea levels will result either in the acquisition of coastal property where the high-water mark moves seaward or in the loss of coastal property where the high-water mark moves landward. The law relating to the loss or acquisition of coastal property as a result of changes in the location of the high-water mark may be traced back to the common law principles governing the acquisition of ownership by alluvion (alluvio) and the loss of ownership by erosion. As part of an attempt to address the consequences of sea level rise, section 14(5) of the National Environmental: Integrated Coastal Management Act 24 of 2008 has amended some of these common law principles. The purpose of this article is to set out and critically analyse the provisions of section 14(5).

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Warren Freedman, University of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa

    BCom LLB (Wits) LLM (University Natal). School of Law, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg Campus, South Africa.

References

Bibliography

Literature

Allison LC, Palmer MD and Haigh ID "Projections of 21st Century Sea Level Rise for the Coast of South Africa" 2022 Environmental Research Communications 1-15 https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ac4a90 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ac4a90

Carey Miller DL The Acquisition and Protection of Ownership (Juta Cape Town 1986)

Cartwright A Coastal Vulnerability in the Context of Climate Change: A South African Perspective (Centre for Criminology Cape Town 2011)

De Groot H Inleidinge tot de Hollandsche Rechtsgeleerdheid (Lee RW (transl)) (Gouda Quint Arnhem 1926)

Du Plessis P An Annotated Translation of Bartolus' Tractatus De Fluminibus Seu Tyberiadis (Book 1) (MA-thesis North-West University 1999)

Fischer R and Whittal J Cadastre: Principles and Practice (South African Geomatics Institute Durban 2020)

Gaius The Institutes of Gaius (De Zulueta F (transl)) (Clarendon Oxford 1935)

Groenewegen van der Made S Tractus de Legibus Abrogatis et Inusitatis in Hollandia Vicinisque Regionibus (Beinart B and Hewett ML (transl)) (Lex-Patria Johannesburg 1974)

Huber U Heedendaegse Rechtsgeleertheyt (Gane P (transl)) (Butterworths Durban 1939)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Climate Change 2023: Synthesis – A Summary for Policy Makers (IPCC Geneva 2023)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate – A Summary for Policy Makers (IPCC Geneva 2019)

Justinian The Digest of Justinian (Mommsen T and Krueger P (eds), Watson A (transl)) (University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia 1985)

Justinian The Institutes of Justinian (Moyle JB (transl)) (Clarendon Press Oxford 1913)

King ND, Strydom HA and Retief FP (eds) Fuggle and Rabie's Environmental Management in South Africa 3rd ed (Juta Cape Town 2018)

Lewis A "Alluvio: The Meaning of the Institutes II.1.20" in Stein PG and Lewis A (eds) Studies in Justinian's Institutes: In Memory of JAC Thomas (Sweet and Maxwell London 1983) 87-95

Muller G et al Silberberg and Schoeman's The Law of Property 6th ed (LexisNexis Durban 2020)

Pienaar G "The Effect of the Original Acquisition of Ownership of Immovable Property on Existing Limited Real Rights" 2015 PELJ 1480-1505 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4314/pelj.v18i5.07

Scholes B, Scholes M and Lucas M Climate Change: Briefings from Southern Africa (Wits University Press Johannesburg 2015) DOI: https://doi.org/10.18772/22015119186

Scholtens JE "Ager Limitatus and Alluvio" 1957 SALJ 272-275

Sonnekus JC "Enkele Opmerkings na Aanleiding van die Aanspraak op Bona Vacantia as Sogenaamde Regale Reg" 1985 TSAR 121-148

Sonnekus JC "Grondeise en die Klassifikasie van Grond as Res Nullius of as Staatsgrond" 2001 TSAR 84-114

Sonnekus JC and Neels JL Sakereg Vonnisbundel 2nd ed (Butterworths Durban 1994)

Sowman M and Rebelo X "The Coastal Environment" in Glazewski J (ed) Environmental Law in South Africa 2nd ed (LexisNexis Durban 2005) 11-1 to 11-59

Van der Keessel DG Praelectiones Iuris Hodierni ad Hugonis Grotii Introductionem ad Iurisprudentiam Hollandicam (Van Warmelo P et al (transl)) (Balkema Amsterdam 1963)

Van der Merwe CG Sakereg (Butterworths Durban 1979)

Van der Merwe CG Sakereg 2nd ed (Butterworths Durban 1989)

Van der Merwe CG "Things" in Joubert WA and Faris JA The Law of South Africa Volume 27 2nd ed (LexisNexis Butterworths Durban 2014)

Van der Merwe CG and Pope A "Ownership" in Du Bois F (ed) Wille's Principles of South African Law 9th ed (Juta Cape Town 2007) 469-556

Van Leeuwen S Censura Forensis (Schreiner WP (transl)) (Juta Cape Town 1883)

Vinnius A In Quatuor Libros Institutionum Imperialium Commentarius Academicus et Forensis (Van der Linden Lugduni Batavorum 1726)

Voet J Commentarius ad Pandectas (Gane P (transl)) (Butterworths Durban 1957)

Case law

Attorney General of Southern Nigeria v John Holt and Co (Liverpool) Ltd [1915] AC 599 (PC)

Body Corporate of Dolphin Cove v KwaDukuza Municipality (8513/10) [2012] ZAKZDHC 13 (20 February 2012)

Butgereit v Transvaal Canoe Union 1988 1 SA 759 (A)

Colonial Government v Town Council of Cape Town (1902) 19 SC 87

Durban City Council v Minister of Agriculture 1982 2 SA 361 (D)

Elandsrand Gold Mining Company Ltd v JF Uys (TPD) (unreported) case number 9915/93 of 1 February 1994

First National Bank of SA Ltd t/a Wesbank v Commissioner for the South African Revenue Service; First National Bank of SA Ltd t/a Wesbank v Minister of Finance 2002 4 SA 768 (CC)

Lange v Minister of Lands 1957 1 SA 297 (A) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.1.5012.223

Pharo v Stephen Stephan 1917 AD 1

Secretary of State for India v Vizianagaram (Rajah) (1921) LR 49 Ind App 67

Southern Centre of Theosophy Inc v South Australia [1981] 1 All ER 283 (PC)

Surveyor General (Cape) v Estate De Villiers 1923 AD 588

Van Niekerk and Union Government (Minister of Lands) v Carter 1917 AD 359

Legislation

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

Deeds Registries Act 47 of 1937

Land Survey Act 8 of 1997

Maritime Zones Act 15 of 1994

National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Act 24 of 2008

National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Amendment Act 36 of 2014

Seashore Act 21 of 1935

Government publications

National Environmental Management: Integrated Coastal Management Amendment Bill [B8-2013]

International instruments

Paris Agreement (2015)

Internet sources

Corkill J 2012 Principles and Problems of Shoreline Law. Australian Climate Change Adaption Research Network for Settlements and Infrastructure: Discussion Paper G https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/ engineering/civil-environmental/water-research-laboratory/accarnsi/Principles-and-Problems-Of-Shoreline-Law.pdf accessed 7 November 2023

Scholes R and Engelbrecht F 2021 Climate Impacts on Southern Africa During the 21st Century: A Report for the Centre for Environmental Rights https://cer.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Climate-impacts-in-South-Africa_Final_September_2021.FINAL_.pdf accessed 7 November 2023

United Nations Environment Programme 2011 Taking Steps toward Marine and Coastal Ecosystems-Based Management https://www.unep.org/ resources/report/taking-steps-toward-marine-and-coastal-ecosystem-based-management-introductory accessed 7 November 2023

US Global Change Research Program 2017 Climate Science Special Report: Fourth National Climate Assessment Volume 1 https://science2017.globalchange.gov/ accessed 7 November 2023

World Meteorological Organization 2023 State of the Global Climate 2022 https://public.wmo.int/en/our-mandate/climate/wmo-statement-state-of-global-climate accessed 7 November 2023

Published

23-11-2023

Issue

Section

Special Edition: Legal History

How to Cite

Freedman, W. (2023). Rising Tides: The Acquisition of Ownership by Alluvio in the Context of Sea Level Rise. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal, 26, (Published on 23 November 2023) pp 1 - 31. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2023/v26i0a16463

Similar Articles

1-10 of 1085

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.