‘2 cows, 1ha’ redress slated

The Pan Africanist Congress has vowed to fight to ensure that land is restored to the African people.

This comes after political parties debated the land question in parliament, in which the Freedom Front Plus defended the ownership of land in the hands of whites.

Recently the rural development department proposed that as part of land restitution, each household be offered one hectare and two dairy cows, a move that was warmly received by some and rejected by others, including the PAC.

PAC spokesperson Kenneth Mokgatlhe said yesterday that if farmers continued to kill black people on their farms, there would be civil war in the country.

“We have carried on from where King Bambatha left, we have promised ourselves that we will take the land back no matter what it takes,” he said.

Mokgatlhe was referring to the 1906 Bambatha revolt by land peasants led by Chief Bambatha kaMancinza of the Zondi tribe in Zululand against British land taxation. A large number of Zulu impis and a few British soldiers were killed in the war.

He also praised EFF MP and chief whip Floyd Shivambu, pictured, for standing up in parliament to articulate the cause of the 40 million Africans who were dispossessed of their land

“It was only Shivambu out of more than 300 parliamentarians who stood up for us and we are thankful for that. We are not scared of war because our people have suffered for more than 350 years. So what will we fear now?” Mokgatlhe said.

Land expropriation was being proposed, but the issue has raised concern among commercial farmers who fear a state-sponsored land grab.

It is claimed that less than 10% of land had been redistributed to the black majority since the promulgation of the Restitution of Land Rights Act of 1994.

In the last few years the government opened another window for land claimants to submit claims but it remains to be seen whether it would succeed.

Political analyst Ralph Mathekga said the plan to give out land and livestock was a good approach to revitalising rural agricultural production.

“There ought to be further supporting measures including monitoring,” Mathekga said.

This is positive, if implemented well,” he said.