South Africa could end up like Zimbabwe if the land issue remains unresolved, the chairperson of the ad hoc committee working on the amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution, Mathole Motshekga has warned.
The committee is tasked with coming up with legislation to enable amendments that will allow for land expropriation without compensation explicit.
According to EWN, parties have so far not been able to agree on the Amendment Bill where it refers to no compensation, state custodianship of land and the actual need to amend the Constitution itself.
Motshekga called for the conclusion of the process and warned that South Africa could become like Zimbabwe if it fails to conclude the process
“If we fail to do so it means that we are opting for a Zimbabwe solution, and it will be a sad day if what happened in Zimbabwe comes to South Africa.”
Thousands of white farmers in Zimbabwe were forced from their land, often violently, between 2000 and 2001.
Colonial-era-land grabs
The farms were taken under a controversial land reform programme launched by former president, the late Robert Mugabe.
Mugabe argued at the time that this was to redress colonial-era land grabs, when much of the country’s best land was reserved for the white population and black farmers were forced onto marginal areas.
Under the programme, most of the country’s 4 000 white farmers – then the backbone of Zimbabwe’s agricultural economy – were forced from their land, which was handed over to about a million black Zimbabweans, a BBC report said.
The seizures contributed to the country’s economic decline and ruined relations with the West.
Citizen’s rights
Motshekga’s remarks came a day after the Democratic Alliance (DA) petitioned Cabinet to publicly reject the ongoing parliamentary process to amend the Constitution to allow expropriation without compensation.
The party is strongly opposed to state custodianship.
According to News24, DA MP Annelie Lotriet, who also serves on the ad hoc committee working on the amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution, on Thursday, June 17, said she wrote to Cabinet, “reminding them of the oath that they took to defend the Constitution and requesting that they publicly reject the ongoing parliamentary process”.
“National Cabinet has an obligation to protect the integrity of our constitutional republic and the protection of every citizen’s rights, including property rights,” Lotriet added in a statement.
She said allowing expropriation without compensation would harm South Africa’s economy more than Covid-19.
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