Land lobbyist takes swipe at Shivambu
EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu bit off more than he could chew yesterday when he asked a member of the public about the funding of his organisation.
This happened as the Landless Movement of South Africa (Lamosa) made an oral presentation to the constitutional review committee tasked with considering amending the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.
Briefing the committee, Lamosa’s Speaker Mahlake said Section 25 of the Constitution had been drafted to ensure laws were passed to make transformation happen.
He said Parliament was being frustrated by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Valuer-General and Land Claims Commision when it undertook its oversight function on the budget allocated for land reform.
Mahlake, who warned about another 25 years without implementation of transformation, said a better law on land expropriation should be passed to make property transformation clear – including little or zero compensation.
He, however, said expropriation of land should provide compensation for landowners, the land occupier, farm workers and banks who dished out a loan.
“Amend it to ensure effective land reform and make it clear that zero compensation is constitutional.”
Shivambu noted that, during the public hearings, people who opposed expropriation of land without compensation were whites and blacks who were accompanied by white people.
This got Freedom Front Plus and the ACDP hot under the collar.
The ACDP’s Steve Swart accused Shivambu of casting aspersions on attorney Henk Smith, who sat next to Mahlake during his presentation.
FF Plus leader Corné Mulder said: “I find it an inflammatory and racist statement.”
After defending his use of racial terms, Shivambu then wanted to know who was funding Lamosa.
“Who pays for your lawyers? Are they voluntary, so that we can understand the extreme submission made here, which is not consistent with people who are landless?” he asked.
In a rather surprising response, Mahlake said: “Fortunately enough, we are not funded by VBS Bank.”
His reply drew laughter from those present in the meeting with the EFF’s Tebogo Mokwele raising points of order.
Shivambu’s brother, Brian, is implicated in the VBS bank saga, with a SARB report showing he received money from the ill-fated bank.
The saga has put the EFF firmly on the spot with the party saying none of Brian’s money went to the Red Berets.