Contralesa expresses support for Land Act

Traditional leaders will not oppose the government if it decides to confiscate their land for development purposes.

Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa) president chief Mathupha Mokoena said this when reacting to the promulgation of the widely criticised Expropriation Act, which allows government to take land without compensation.

The Act, was recently signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

‘If the govt wants to take our land, we won’t oppose it’

“As Contralesa, we want development. If the government wants to take our land for that, then we have no reason to oppose it,” Mokoena said yesterday.

“Be that as it may, remember the traditional leaders only own 13% of the land in the country, while a large percentage is owned by white people.

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“However, with the new law, I don’t think the government will be able to confiscate the land from the whites because the law gives the owners a chance to dispute and challenge the state.”

However, when asked about the reports that Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini was opposed to the new law, Mokoena said Contralesa would support him if that was the case.

According to a source quoted in a report last week, the Zulu king saw the Act as a threat to the Ingonyama Trust.

Zulu king saw Act as threat – reports

“If that is his position, we are behind him because we have realised that when the government addresses the issues relating to the trust, they show some element of being disrespectful and undermining to the king,” he said.

Recently, US President Donald Trump cut foreign aid aimed at supporting South Africa’s health programmes in the fight against the HIV pandemic.

ALSO READ: Is the Expropriation Act a solution to South Africa’s land reform challenges?

He also threatened to impose more sanctions if the country did not stop what he said was unfair discrimination against the white minority.

Gakwi Mashego, a Mpumalanga member of the Oral History Association of South Africa, said traditional leaders would be affected by the Act, but were obliged to comply because the government was giving them financial support.

‘They would be forced to obey’

“This law is going to affect every land owner and they would be forced to obey,” Mashego said.

“But the Land Act is not as bad as people say it is because the government will come up with an offer to the owner. Even if they refused, the government would continue to make use of the land until the owner accepted the offer and got paid.”