Past wrongs need to be addressed

THE COUNTRY’S current debate over land expropriation without compensation is heating up ever since it was endorsed by Parliament.

But for some of us land has been the subject of discussion, whether at our homes, workplace or social gathering. The debate has opened rigorous discussion by some of the people who sit comfortably in their houses and offices and don’t care about the life of a poor man in the street.

Now the debate threatens the property rights on which the market economy rests. They are now awake and talking, but what is evident about this debate shows and expresses the black anger at the survival of pre-1994 inequalities since South Africa became a democracy.

Outsiders and some quarters might be surprised that tensions caused by economic inequalities focus on land farming have not been South Africa’s key industry for decades. The reason it triggers such heat is that for South African land is a symbol of far more than an expanse of soil. For most people, it has nothing to do with agriculture at all.

White South Africans should try hard to understand that it is about much more than just reorganising ownership patterns. It is also about symbolism, history and inequality, and even, among some, a need to have the white minority “put in its place”, to make them feel the pain the majority felt for so long.

Historically, the demand by blacks for the return of the land meant the return of the country to its people – it was directed not only at ownership of farms, but at minority control of the economy and society by a few.

This is why expropriation without compensation has become a rallying cry for many who have no interest in farming, but who feel that a quarter century of democracy has not ended white privilege. It symbolises a much broader demand for change.

Land owners who hold the state to ransom will risk losing compensation, but if that is all that happens, an opportunity will be missed.

White South Africans have the opportunity to cease the moment by not only thinking about themselves but the poor man in the street.

If we South Africans don’t solve the land issue to the satisfaction of a majority of citizens during the current process, it will continue to haunt and destabilise us. It won’t get better if we don’t act decisively, it won’t go away. It can only get worse.

Justice must be done. Historic wrongs must be reversed. I wish more white South Africans would embrace these truths and understand that it isn’t only the right thing to do; it is also in their long-term interests. TSHEPO DIALE NKWE ESTATE