Governing party defeats EFF’s move for land expropriation

The ANC has shot down the EFF’s latest proposal for land expropriation without compensation, saying such a move would be unconstitutional.

Parliament debated on Tuesday the EFF’s motion on land, amid growing calls for the government to fast-track land reform. The motion was defeated when the ANC and other smaller parties voted against it.

Going into the debate, the opposition EFF had been emboldened by President Jacob Zuma’s statement on Friday that the country should amend its laws to allow for land expropriation without compensation.

“To achieve all the goals mentioned in the state of the nation address, government is busy amending all the laws and policies to enable faster land reform including land expropriation without compensation as provided for in the Constitution,” Zuma said on Friday.

EFF leader Julius Malema said the ANC was contradicting Zuma. “We all know the Dutch gangsters arrived here and took our land by force. Those who claim to be radical enough should be in the forefront to agree that the Constitution must be changed to make it possible to own land. It cannot be right that less than 10% of the population own more than 75% of the land ....

“We remain conquered because white monopoly capital still owns the means of production and, at the centre of that is the land question,” said Malema.

The EFF leader reiterated his call for land occupation.

ANC MPs dismissed the motion. The ANC said the expropriation bill stated that property could be expropriated only in terms of the law of general application for public purposes and in the public interest, subject to compensation.