People who are occupying state property illegally have one last chance to come clean, or face the wrath of the government.

People who are occupying state property illegally have one last chance to come clean, or face the wrath of the government.

The Department of Public Works says it will declare an amnesty to "encourage those in illegal possession of state assets to surrender them without facing prosecution", Public Works Minister Geoff Doidge said yesterday.

He told the media ahead of his budget vote speech in Parliament today that the former Bantustan regimes had owned a lot of properties which at some point were taken over by individuals.

These properties were still not listed on the government's register of assets because just before the first democratic elections in 1994, "a lot of title deeds went missing", Doidge said.

"The biggest problem was the transfer of these properties from the homelands to the South African government in 1994. Paper trails could not be found," Doidge said.

He said the government was determined to finally clean up its asset register and the amnesty would be the last chance for anyone living in a former homeland property.