People behind illegal land grabs in Pretoria were greedy, opportunistic elements seeking to set up more shacks and rent them out for self-enrichment.
This was the view of former mayor of Tshwane Solly Msimanga when answering questions posed by journalists this week about his thoughts on issues of expropriation of land as well as land grabs.
He said most of the land grab cases were more financially motivated than a cry for people wanting to own land.
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“Go to these informal settlements where people are invading land. Look at the cars that are parked there, you will see that these are not poor people who want land. They are self-sufficient people who are into this for financial reasons. They will buy three, four or five shacks, and erect them there just so that they can rent them out and make business,” said Msimanga.
Msimanga, who is the DA’s candidate for the Gauteng premiership, said his party had a proactive, positive land reform agenda which sought to make individuals real property owners.
“We envision a South Africa in which every person can own property, and that the circumstances of their birth are no impediment to them acquiring and accumulating wealth-creating assets.
“Where we are in government, we will focus obsessively on title deed reform – which makes real homeowners of those recipients of state-subsidised housing who have until now not had actual ownership of the homes they live in,” he said.
The DA’s approach was to make people real homeowners, and protect their right to build assets and wealth over time and hand these over to their children.
“This is the only way to break the cycle of inter-generational poverty that apartheid has left us. Our approach recognises that property rights, like individual rights, are indivisible. Each person’s individual rights are best protected when everyone’s rights are protected.”
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He said the DA was opposed to any abrogation of existing private property rights.
“Property rights are the bedrock of development and economic growth. Expropriation without compensation is state-sanctioned theft, which is inimical to economic growth and development.”
The DA was a party of the protection of all individual rights, “cardinal among those the right to security of one’s own property and the right to enjoy the fruits of one’s labour”.
Msimanga rejected the “hate-filled racist undertones employed by the EFF and the ANC in this debate”, and said the two sought to divide the country according to race for narrow political ends, and to de-legitimise those who disagreed.
Msimanga said should the DA win Gauteng, the party would focus on aggressive expansion of affordable housing projects in central business districts and speed up the rapid delivery of title deeds.
He said the DA would have the legal and constitutional mandate to do what the current government has failed to do over the past 24 years.
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EFF Tshwane leader Benjamin Disoloane slammed Msimanga for labelling those who invaded land as “thieves“.
“The mayor should stop reducing our people by making out they are stealing the land. He failed to come up with alternatives while he was still the mayor to make sure our people have places for residential and economic purposes,” he said.
Tshwane ANC region executive member Paul Mojapelo said it was not ANC policy to invade land.
He said land had been invaded when the ANC was in charge of the metro, adding that it was surprising that now that it was happening to a DA administration, fingers were being pointed at the ANC.
“ANC members are community members before they are ANC members. It is not our policy. There are processes and policies in place,” he said.
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