Sledgehammer land reform stunt of EFF and ANC not serving nation

THE emotive issue of land reform has been rudely thrusted into the limelight once again. It seems there is no rest in our body politic.

Maybe this is necessary, for we have a humongous pile of unresolved historic injustices which hobble our progress and compromise our future.

This time, the jolt came through a parliamentary motion by the EFF and the ANC to push for expropriation of land without compensation.

These two parties propose to attain this emotionally massaging motion

. . . eh, for some, through the establishment of an ad hoc Constitutional Review Committee. This committee is charged with a duty to “review and amend section 25 of the Constitution to make it possible for the state to expropriate land in the public interest without compensation”.

Of course most experts, such as Ruth Hall, professor at the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at UWC, as well as agricultural economists Wandile Sihlobo and Professor Johann Kirsten, say there is provision for this already in our Constitution.

Many other knowledgeable South Africans, such as Justice Malala and Barney Mthombothi, agree that the real problem has not been the Constitution, but the failure of the ANC government to effectively pursue land reform over the past two decades.

And, once again, it becomes apparent that most of our troubles stem from a state which is not capable to pursue its policies.

Will changing the Constitution suddenly make a capable state then?

My concern is even more basic. It is the manner in which most of our political parties, especially the ANC and EFF, seem to put political considerations ahead of their mandate to serve the country.

This creates organisations which are ultimately in politics for themselves. This is a tragic reversal of roles!

The EFF’s use of the “expropriation of land without compensation” sledgehammer, together with the racist vitriol of its leader Julius Malema, displays how little they care about building a nation out of the often polarised sections of South Africa.

They are willing to take an emotive and potentially divisive issue and push it with recklessness and disdain for the finesse it requires to solve.

At the same time, the ANC, in considering its own political fortunes, plays to the populist music of the EFF, shape-shifting and causing unnecessary anxiety in the country.

Both of these parties know fully well what the Constitution provides, but are willing to play the old political game of making emotionally sweet promises to the masses for political gain.

Maybe the ANC and EFF have not noticed; we are no longer that gullible. We will not accept this kind of misdirection.

The most pertinent challenge facing our country is the attainment of a growing inclusive economy. This is what everything we do must point to.

This political stunt of land expropriation without compensation, will not get our people involved in meaningful economic activity. Instead, it is likely to open another source of administrative nightmares which themselves will open up gaping holes for corruption and patronage to fill.

If the state failed to implement the programme of land reform over two decades within a Constitution which allows it, what makes it possible for it to do so now with the added pressure of economic decline and the potential wave of popular demand for “land expropriation now”?

The issue of land reform cannot be looked at only from an ideological point of view. That point of view is only good to kick-start debate not action.

To attain land reform, we must look at the details and the required capabilities. We must also see whether or not land reform will feed into our greater objective of kickstarting a stalled economy.

We cannot hope to kick-start a stalled economy by creating anxiety, polarisation and uncertainty among the very people who are supposed to work together to create a better economy.

We cannot hope to build a restructured economy without the effective buy-in of all the people of South Africa.

There is no question of whether or not we need land reform. There is no question of whether or not we need economic reform.

But we cannot achieve these separately from each other, nor can we do it while our people are polarised.

Therefore we must snatch away from both the EFF and ANC, the ability to whip us into a frenzy every time they seek our votes!

Land reform requires vision, sanity, intent, consistency, confidence and cooperation, at least!