Threat to invade KZN sugar giant’s land
The SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) yesterday threatened to invade vast tracts of land north of Durban should the owner, sugar giant Tongaat Hulett, refuse to release it for low-cost housing development.
“It is unacceptable that a private company can be allowed to control thousands of hectares of land while millions of people are homeless,” said Sanco’s KwaZulu-Natal secretary Richard Mkhungo.
Sanco wanted the land – about 8 500 hectares, stretching from Cornubia to the King Shaka International Airport – expropriated under what Mkhungo termed its pilot reform programme.
“Confronted by the stark reality of delivering a land reform project which represents a break from the past, the eThekwini region – and in particular the Northern Development Corridor – provides an excellent opportunity to expropriate land,” he said.
All that was required for the expropriation was for the ANC-led eThekwini municipality to serve Tongaat Hulett with a notice of expropriation. “Should the municipality fail to initiate that, we will be left with no option but to invade the land,” he said.
The call by the ANC-aligned Sanco received backing from the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF). “We are glad Sanco has finally woken up from its slumber. As the EFF, we will be at the forefront of Sanco’s campaign to expropriate land from those who stole it from the poor,” said EFF provincial leader Vusi Khoza.
The ANC said while it respected Sanco’s views, it was committed to the constitution, which protected the rights of property owners.
Tongaat Hulett spokesperson Michelle Jean-Louis was not available for comment.