The ruling ANC confirms with its statements on land reform that there are reasons for serious concern about the future of South Africa and that there is no merit in the ANC’s efforts to accuse their critics of unnecessary pessimism.
Ernst Roets, Deputy CEO of AfriForum, says that the ANC makes it clear in its statements that its efforts to expropriate land without compensation indeed entail a racist agenda. The ruling party also has no clue of what to do to achieve food security and economic growth.
“It is also clear that the parliamentary process that was started is nothing more than a form of window dressing and that Government would go ahead with the process of amending the Constitution, irrespective of what happens in public hearings.”
Gwede Mantashe, Chairperson of the ANC, said that the property of a farmer outside Queenstown would be the first to be expropriated, as this farmer had expanded his farming by buying up all the farms around him. Mantashe viewed these actions as “greed”.
Jeremy Cronin, Deputy Minister of Public Works, threatened that there would be no future for white people in South Africa if the challenges of land redistribution were not addressed.
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister van Rural Development and Land Reform, said that Government was preparing a test case to expropriate land without compensation and that Government wouldn’t wait for the completion of the constitutional reviewing process.
“If we need to expropriate your land, we are going to do that, because it is in the Constitution,” she said. She also said that the land to be expropriated had already been identified, but that she didn’t want to reveal which land it was, as the ANC didn’t want to give the affected owners time toprepare legal steps.
Roets adds that these statements make it clear that the ANC does not understand that the protection of property rights is the basic prerequisite for economic growth. “Mantashe’s statements indicate that he has no grasp of how commercial farming should function.”