North West residents support Expropriation Bill

“Stop running in circles. Stop saying the same thing without producing results.”

This was the plea from one of several residents in the North West who made their voices heard during Parliament’s public hearings on the Expropriation Bill.

On Friday, the EFF’s Dimakathoso Siraphe told the Portfolio Committee on Public Works of the pain many in the province experience due to land dispossession.

“People have no work, the level of unemployment is high. I am saying to give us land now. Give us land without paying any cent. Where are we going to get the money to pay for land. We are not working,” Siraphe said, adding: “Remember, the land was taken from us forcefully, without paying a cent by the people who own the land now.

“We must ask the question, why must we pay for the land that belongs to us.”

Siraphe said the land issue remained important for most South Africans.

“I want to start by warning Parliament. Please stop running in circles. Stop saying the same thing, without producing results. You are so heartless, many families have been destroyed because of poverty and mainly because of land,” she said.

The bill is set to replace the Expropriation Act of 1975 which is inconsistent with the Constitution.

Section 12 of the bill deals with instances where zero compensation will apply.

It states zero compensation may be paid where land is expropriated in the public interest, including but not limited to where the land is not being used, and the owner’s main purpose is not to develop the land or use it to generate income, but to benefit from the appreciation of its market value.

Matshepo Monare, a resident in the Maquassi Hill Local Municipality, said those dispossessed of land should not pay a cent to get their land back.

“We desperately need this land. We need space for our livestock. In fact, we don’t have to pay for land again because we paid the price through the blood of our forefathers that was spilled in the fight for their land. The blood itself was the best price paid for us to get our land back,” she said.

Elias Gabonewe, a local farmer in the region, said access to funding remained their biggest challenge.

“We have applied for funding, they promised to fund, but nothing has come from this. I am not fighting the government, I am not fighting for a farm. I’m only fighting for money and access to funding to do something on my part.

“When we apply for financing from banks, we need to supply surety and guarantee. We don’t have that, and we are excluding from partaking in the economy.”

Another EFF member, Lazi Marumo said: “This process is just a distraction to Section 25 of the Constitution. What is currently happening is that this land has been taken from our people through bloodshed.

“Now, Parliament is telling us that the land must be taken back, and we must pay for it. What must we pay? Our people have already paid for the land.”