Ramaphosa trying to mislead people about land nationalisation, says EFF

The EFF has accused President Cyril Ramaphosa of not listening to members of Parliament during debates.

Ramaphosa during his post-budget vote question-and-answer session on Thursday, rejected state custodianship of land demanded by the EFF.

The president argued state custodianship of land would result in the nationalisation of land, which is not the ANC’s policy. He said the government was looking to restore land ownership to those who had previously been dispossessed.

The EFF, however, says Ramaphosa misrepresented its views on the matter.

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“This is part of a coordinated and desperate attempt to mislead people and downplay the significance of the process in its final stages in parliament to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for expropriation of land without compensation into the custodianship of the state,” the party said.

EFF leader Julius Malema said on Wednesday said: “We told you to be honest that you never believed in the expropriation of land without compensation. We told you that you are bluffing on the land question, we told you that you will mess up the process because you are not convinced about taking back the land from colonial settlers.

“As the EFF, we have made our submission – we want the Constitution to acknowledge that land, like mineral resources and water, is a natural resource and the common heritage belonging to all our people. We must expropriate all land and place it under the custodianship of the democratic state.

“Custodianship is not the same as nationalisation. However, when we talk about custodianship, the state does not take the land to use it – instead, the land is only in state custody, as a conduit or to facilitate for people to access land. With the land in state custody, we will have a strong, clear, confident legislation on land tenure to protect our people from corrupt and unscrupulous officials.”

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The party says that with land in the hands of the state, people will be able to apply for the land they want to use, or if they can’t use it, will allow others to use it.

“This is the most practical way to address the land question and ensure that even those who want to invest in businesses with security can do so with certainty.”

While the EFF has advocated for state custodianship of land, the ANC wants a mixed model, with state custodianship and private ownership.

This is what Ramaphosa misrepresented, the EFF says, which argued against voting for an amendment that speaks of compensation.

“This points to our concern raised before that Ramaphosa does not listen to members of Parliament during debates and question sessions in Parliament,” it said.

Compiled by Vhahangwele Nemakonde