Land views out of sync

THE question of land is again gaining momentum after 24 years of democracy, during which period the debate was deliberately shunted.

However, the land question has always been debated in ultra-left circles like the PAC, Azapo and the Black Consciousness Movement.

Earlier this year there were lengthy discussions – and some agreement – between the EFF and the ANC in parliament on land being “expropriated without compensation”.

Well, I don’t disagree with that. My problem is that both parties are making mockery of the majority of destitute Africans because they both believe that “the land belongs to all who live in it” (Freedom Charter 1955) meaning it belongs to both the colonised and the coloniser. Nelson Mandela shared a strong view on this, adding that neither black nor white domination was acceptable.

The point I’m making is that expropriation of land without compensation was never the governing party’s belief or agenda.

Hence, in the period leading up to 1994 the PAC and its like were ridiculed for raising the point that the struggle of black Africans was all about land. And yes, nothing was done about the land that was thieved from our ancestors as per “property clause agreement”. We are at a crucial stage where we must ask the right questions and analyse our situation critically, because it is this very government that only recognises land claims after 1913.

What about claims arising from the arrival of Dutch colonisers in 1652? Or even in the 1400s from the first colonialists, the Portuguese?

The ruling party is understating the suffering caused by European countries in this part of Africa. It should be remembered that the land was taken by the barrel of a gun and then the theft was rubber-stamped into oppressive laws.

The point is that if it was the agenda of the government of the day to expropriate land without compensation, firstly it should have prepared the youth through investing in quality decolonised education (such as cultural consciousness and agriculture) post-1994. Instead, what it has done is destroy the fabric of our indigenous knowledge. That is why the youth saw a need to raise this national land question through protests like #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall.

So that’s why I say icebo lokutya umvubo kuku

zozelisa – politicians are saying what the people want to hear just to schmooze their vote so that they can continue with their agenda. — Sibabalwe Gqosha, via e-mail