SA must learn from Zimbabwe’s mistakes on land issue

Land, at least the usage and ownership of it, has always been an emotive issue. This is especially true in a society as complex as South Africa.

By its very nature, land, rich or poor as it may prove to be, bestows an aura of permanency to those who occupy it, especially in a country where the horrors of forced removals under apartheid still burn like an out-of-control inferno through the very souls of the disenfranchised displaced persons on the wrong end of these unethical grabs.

But reprisals to right these wrongs – real or perceived – cannot and must not descend into anarchy. The lessons our basket case neighbours, Zimbabwe, have surely taught us in this regard cannot be blandly ignored.

So it is reassuring to hear Rural Development and Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti giving an assurance that despite some recent sabre rattling from President Jacob Zuma on the subject, this is assuredly not ANC policy.

What is less heartening is the rider Nkwinti added, where the minister merely said this was an “aspiration”. This, we would suggest, comes close to being a cop-out to placate the strident voices clamouring, unconcerned by the constitution, for expropriation without compensation.

For more news your way, follow The Citizen on Facebook and Twitter.