Land ownership should be limited to 12 000 hectares, says Mantashe

Land ownership should be limited to 12 000 hectares a farm, and the government should expropriate without compensation land in excess of that.

This is according to ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe, who told News24 this would be implemented once section 25 of the Constitution had been amended to allow the state to expropriate land without compensation in the public interest.

Mantashe told the publication that individuals should not own land in excess of 12 000 hectares, and that if you do, it should be expropriated without compensation.

The governing party national chairperson said white farmers owning more than 12 000 hectares would give the rest of it to the government, and that the state would then undergo the process of redistributing that land, the prioritised beneficiaries being successful black farmers.

Mantashe conceded that white farmers would not allow the state to expropriate their land because they would want to protect their privilege, which necessitates amending the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.

He said 83% of land owned by “the few” would be the ANC’s target and that the 13% would be divided among the majority.

Meanwhile, briefing the media on the ANC national working committee (NWC) discussions, the party’s deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte said on Tuesday the party was of the view that amending the Constitution was necessary so that expropriation of land without compensation would be made an “explicit” matter.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as ANC leader, recently announced the ruling party would be supporting an amendment to the Constitution to make land expropriation without compensation more explicit.

During the announcement, Ramaphosa said it had become “patently clear” that “the people” wanted expropriation without compensation to become “more explicit” in the Constitution, to go beyond the current constitutional provisions for expropriation in the public interest.

The ANC president said the party would continue to follow parliamentary processes to change the law with the ultimate aim of increasing agricultural production, people’s access to land, and just and equitable redistribution, in a manner that would boost the economy.

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