Heated discussions over land expropriation issues
The debate at the Port Shepstone Civic Centre was aired live on Ugu Youth Radio between 6pm and 8pm, and was recorded by 1KZN TV.
The call for land expropriation without compensation has sparked much debate and elicited mixed emotions from various political parties and other interest groups.
Last Tuesday, local political parties – the DA, IFP and ANC – engaged in a heated debate on the contentious issue.
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The debate at the Port Shepstone Civic Centre was aired live on Ugu Youth Radio between 6pm and 8pm, and was recorded by 1KZN TV.
The DA said it did not support land expropriation without compensation, adding that it believed that this would eventually rob all South Africans of their right to property ownership.
DA spokesman, Leonard Ngcobo, said Section 25 of the constitution was ‘fine’ and suggested that one way to effect land reform was for the government to release urban land in its ownership on which it could build housing.
The party said it supports land restitution and redistribution and the efforts to ‘undo the terrible legacy of forced land dispossession which still reverberates in our society’.
From the audience, DA supporter Sharon Swartz accused the ANC of having failed to carry out land expropriation with compensation and asked why it should be given another opportunity to expropriate land without compensation.
ANC spokesman, Mzwandile Mkhwanazi, said the ANC’s approach to the land question was one that sought a win-win outcome.
Mr Mkhwanazi said the party’s policy to expropriate land without compensation was not an elite empowerment process but was meant to benefit all South Africans.
He told the audience that there were measures in place that would guide the process.
IFP representative, Sifundo Ndovela, said although the IFP encouraged land expropriation, it believed it should be done in a way that would not cause hatred, because the constitution clearly stated that land belonged to everyone.
“We need to start with land that is government-owned but is not being used. We also need to protect the legacy of our leaders and encourage unity in the country.”
Mr Ndovela said this decision needed to be carefully thought out and not forced on people.
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