Lekota weeps for comrades

Congress of the People leader Mosiuoa Lekota broke down in tears during an interview, remembering comrades who died during apartheid.

He also expressed disappointment in the ANC’s decision to back a policy of land expropriation without compensation.

In the interview, Lekota defended white people’s right to land in South Africa, saying the land was not stolen but bought.

He also defended King Goodwill Zwelithini’s Ingonyama Trust.

“I want to kill this myth that there are white families that were given land for free. That is not true. It was not given [to whites] for free. Never! Remember, this is a capitalist society,” Lekota said.

“You may have had some deals like the fraud we are experiencing in our time where government officials can be corrupt. You may have had something like that. But as a general rule‚ everybody had to buy the property that they have.

“I’m saying to you, go to any white family that you like. Show me a family that will not be able to show you a title deed for the land they bought.”

Reacting to the recent panel led by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, which recommended that the Ingonyama Trust Act be repealed and the Ingonyama Trust be dissolved, Lekota said rather than taking the land away from the king, he should be encouraged to pass the land on to his people through title deeds.

“Inkosi‚ iSilo‚ we must give him a title to his land‚“he said.

“We must request that he give each person the piece of land that they live on.”