‘Land grab turmoil a graft smokescreen’

Analyst reckons ANC faction manufactured focus on issue

LAND expropriation without compensation was spearheaded by a faction of the ANC who were at the centre of corruption allegations and wanted to create chaos by shifting the focus from their looting.

This is according to KwaZulu-Natal-based political analyst Thabani Khumalo, who was commenting on President Cyril Ramaphosa’s visit to King Goodwill Zwelithini to reassure him that land under the Ingonyama Trust would not be targeted during their proposed expropriation without compensation.

Khumalo said the ANC faction embroiled in allegations of corruption and state capture had created the chaos around land issues so that the ANC and South Africans would lose focus on their looting of the public purse, and now Ramaphosa was left to manage the crisis.

“This entire land expropriation without compensation was designed to keep Ramaphosa and the new ANC’s hands full,” Khumalo said.

He said Ramaphosa’s visit to the king’s household was a desperate attempt to keep the Zulu nation calm and assure them that their land was safe.

Ramaphosa met with Zwelithini on Friday on the sidelines of the rollout of the ANC’s national Thuma Mina campaign in the province.

ANC spokesperson Pule Mabe described the meeting between the leaders as “fruitful and constructive”, saying the president told Zwelithini that the government had no intention of even touching the land under the Ingonyama Trust during the land expropriation activities. “We have no intention to tamper with the land that is being administered by our chiefs on behalf of the people,” said Ramaphosa in a statement, further clarifying that the views of the High Level Panel were the “independent recommendations of the panel”, which all South Africans, including the ANC, were engaging with, referring to the land debates taking place across the country.

Communal land, or land under the traditional leaders’ custodianship, constitutes only about 13% of land. Mabe said the land being targeted for expropriation was the remaining 87%, and all expropriation undertakings would be “lawful and just in accordance with the expressions and desires of the people of South Africa”.

Khumalo accused the ANC of not doing their homework before adopting the land expropriation policy at their 54th Nasrec conference in December, saying that discussions with the king and traditional leaders should have taken place before the conference.

‘EXPROPRIATION WITHOUT COMPENSATION DESIGNED TO KEEP RAMAPHOSA’S AND ANC’S HANDS FULL’