Land expropriation committee to return to Polokwane for public hearing

The ad hoc committee amending Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation will head back to Polokwane for a public hearing.

The previous hearing was interrupted by EFF supporters.

The committee met on Monday morning to discuss the way forward after last Sunday’s meeting was cancelled by ANC MP Bongani Bongo after EFF supporters barricaded the entrance.

The meeting, which was due to start at 11:00, was postponed to 14:00 after ANC and EFF supporters stormed the hall, causing more than 250 people to be present in contravention of Covid-19 protocols.

“We are a people’s Parliament, we do not run away from the people,” said committee chairperson Mathole Motshekga as he proposed that the committee heads back to Polokwane.

He said the challenges faced at the previous meeting will be resolved through “political management”.

Motshekga said they have received a complaint from farmers in the Waterberg region, who felt they were excluded from the process.

He said he engaged with AgriSA at the hearings in the Northern Cape and found them “fully cooperative”. He suggested that they also head back to Waterberg.

The other ANC MPs didn’t support having another meeting in the Waterberg region, but wanted the hearing in Polokwane to proceed.

They said the National Council of Provinces will also have a public participation process, in which people who feel they didn’t get an opportunity during this round can participate.

Control

DA MP Annelie Lotriet said the trouble in Polokwane was caused by the ANC and EFF’s “inability to control their supporters”.

She asked what measures will be in place to prevent another occurrence.

EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu agreed the committee should reconvene in Polokwane, adding that the party’s leader, Julius Malema, had said their supporters shouldn’t have been involved in the “scuffles” which disrupted the previous hearing.

He didn’t have a problem with going back to Waterberg, but said Motshekga is “tiptoeing around minorities”.

“You are too sensitive to white people,” Shivambu said.

Democrat

“I am a democrat,” said Motshekga.

He said he would abide by the majority view that they shouldn’t go back to Waterberg.

Bongo, who led the previous committee delegation to Polokwane, has since been arrested by the Hawks and charged with corruption.

Motshekga said, as committee chairperson, he will lead the delegation.

“He [Bongo] had some challenges and he wanted time to deal with these challenges,” Motshekga said.

ANC MP Dibolelo Mahlatsi said Bongo will be available.

“The ANC must handle your issues in the study groups,” said Shivambu.

The committee will go to Polokwane over the weekend, but the details are still to be confirmed.

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