Johannesburg - The ANC’s land summit has recommended that the government should immediately make use of section 25 of the Constitution to expropriate land without compensation.
ANC NEC member Ronald Lamola said the party’s land summit held at the weekend recommended that section 25 should be tested to its limit to expropriate land without compensation while Parliament should ensure that Expropriation Bill is passed.
At a briefing on Monday, Lamola said the party also wants the Expropriation Bill to include the aspect of “without compensation”.
The party also wants a Redistribution Bill to be introduced to assist the process.
#Lamola The Land Summit focused on the constitutional review process and what the approach of the ANC ought to be and the immediate steps that we should take #LandSummit pic.twitter.com/JZpyArYOzN
— African National Congress (@MYANC) May 21, 2018
The ANC’s land summit was held in Boksburg and attended by various stakeholders including NGOs, farmers and ANC officials and members.
The outcomes of the summit are not final and have to be rubber-stamped by the party’s National Executive Committee at its meeting this weekend.
The "workshop" also discussed the issue of farm dwellers that had resided on farms for years. Lamola said it was discussed that these farmlands need to be expropriated and distributed to farm dwellers in the form of title deeds.
Lamola: we seek an expropriation act along side testing section 25. There should no excuse to redistribute land. #LandSummit. @IOL
— Zintle (@ZintleMahlati) May 21, 2018
The hot topic at the summit was ignited by former President Kgalema Motlanthe who pushed for something to be done about traditional leaders who have held the government to ransom by claiming land that does not belong to them.
The ANC’s Enoch Godongwana said the party was not “afraid” of traditional leaders, but wanted to democratize communal land and ensure security for those it belongs to.
Godongwana says the ANC IS NOT Afraid of local chiefs. Says the ANC would like security of tenure. #LandSummit
— Zintle (@ZintleMahlati) May 21, 2018
President Cyril Ramaphosa said the summit also looked at the growing need for housing especially in urban areas and how land expropriation can help alleviate that growing need.
“We are now moving forward to our NEC meeting and will discuss the outcomes of the land summit and after we will then be able outline a more clear position. We also had an opportunity to deal with urban land and what should be done about it. Especially where there is a hunger for land and houses,” said Ramaphosa.
A Parliamentary process is currently underway that is looking at whether section 25 of the Constitution should be amended. The committee conducting the process said it had received more than 100 000 submissions on the issue.
The committee is expected to compile a report and submit to Parliament by September.