Those who oppose land expropriation must stop dividing SA racially - Mabuza

At a question-and-answer session in parliament on Tuesday, Deputy President David Mabuza sought to calm the nerves of those who are against land expropriation without compensation, also expressing his view that those who oppose this policy are attempting to divide South Africa racially.

“Apartheid stripped people of their dignity, land, livelihood and overall means of production. It distorted the supply and demand patterns of the economy along racial lines,” he said, adding that his government’s policies are an attempt to remedy these past injustices.

Mabuza was recently reported to lead a committee on the proposed expropriation of land, with a report on land reform expected to be tabled at some point this month.

According to Mabuza, he and the committee have “been engaging with white farmers who came forward to say they are prepared to work with government to support land reform. They pledged to donate land to their farm tenants.”

“We’re encouraged by the actions of farmers, especially those in KZN, who continuously lead the debate and will soon demonstrate their willingness and support to the programme by donating land to their farm tenants,” Mabuza said.

“We have requested them to work on a model that we can utilise countrywide so that those farmers who want to work with government to ensure that productivity is increased and land is accessible to all can do so following an agreed model,” he continued.

Mabuza also said government is “in the process of finalising the land audit of land parcels that are in the hands of government”.

“Government will put a model and criteria that will be utilised to redistribute land, especially to those who are hungry to utilise land. Amongst them are young people (new entrants) and women. The land parcels will be made public,” he continued.

“Anyone who receives land must be assisted in working it so that we increase food security, once the food has been harvested in plenty, we can sell it to other countries,” he said in Zulu.

Expropriation without compensation is opposed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) as well as other parties and organisations.

The DA confirmed in December last year that it would head to court to challenge the report by the Constitutional Review Committee recommending that section 25 of the Constitution should be changed to allow for expropriation without compensation.

Before the report was voted on, the DA said it would vote against it because its recommendation was a foregone conclusion, announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on television, well before the committee had completed its task.

DA MP Thandeka Mbabama told the National Assembly: “The recommendation of the CRC to amend the Constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation was a foregone conclusion. That is why ANC President Cyril Ramaphosa cynically made a late night announcement on TV in July that the ruling party had decided to go ahead with changing the Constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation. ”

She added: “It is obvious that, from the onset, the integrity of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee (CRC) was compromised by collusion between the wily EFF and the beleaguered ANC.”

Despite the DA’s objections, the National Assembly adopted the report following a majority vote.

The report was supported by 209 MPs and opposed by 91, following robust debate in the House.

(Additional reporting by ANA)

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.

Those who oppose land expropriation must stop dividing SA racially – Mabuza

For more news your way