LIMPOPO – In a statement released last Thursday, the committee’s Media Officer, Rajaa Azzakani, said the whole process will kick-start next month when advertisements are published inviting oral and written submissions from the public.
“The public will have a month to respond, after which the committee will visit three to four districts or local municipalities per province for public hearings.
“The committee plans to split into two groups for the public hearings in order to cover a larger part of the country,” he said.
He said the public participation process aims to get the views of all stakeholders about the necessity for expropriating land without compensation and what mechanisms they would like to see for the implementation of land reform.
The public participation process comes after the committee was instructed by the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to review Section 25 of the Constitution and other clauses where necessary, to make it possible for the state to expropriate land in the public interest without compensation and propose the necessary constitutional amendments.
In his first State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the process of restoring land to previously disadvantaged people will be conducted with great care by government.
“We will accelerate our land redistribution programme not only to redress a grave historical injustice but also to bring more producers into the agricultural sector and to make more land available for cultivation,” he said.
He said government will pursue a comprehensive approach that makes effective use of all the mechanisms at its disposal, which will include the expropriation of land without compensation as guided by the resolutions of the 54th National Conference of the ANC.
The Joint Constitutional Review Committee has until 30 August to report back to the NA and the NCOP.
