THE Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture has proposed for the amendment of the Constitution that clarifies that expropriation without compensation may be necessary in limited circumstances.
The proposal contained wide-ranging recommendations that will see government implement a fair and equitable redistribution.
The recommendations, which are contained in the final report of the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture, was released on Sunday. Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza, accompanied by members of the panel, released the report.
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President Cyril Ramaphosa in September last year appointed the panel to support the work of the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Land Reform and to advise the IMC on a broad range of policy matters associated with land reform, including restitution, redistribution, tenure security and agricultural support.
Delivering the report, panel chairperson Dr Vuyo Mahlati said the panel over the time met and discussed with relevant ministers and experts on several platforms.
“The premises of the work undertaken by the panel is the firm belief that land reform could enable social cohesion, deliver social justice and restore dignity to the majority of people of our country,” she said.
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In its findings, the panel in the report said critical issues of land hunger, insecurity of tenure with the majority land rights that are not legally recognised in both rural and urban areas, are threatening stability, inclusive growth and development.
With 80 per cent of urban dwellers residing on only 2 per cent of the country’s land, a radical shift was required in land reform trajectory, the panel found.
“This is exacerbated by government’s reluctance, we believe, to address communal tenure and underdevelopment of communal areas perpetuating the marginalisation of women, the rural poor and the communal farmers, in general,” she said.
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