ANC conference targets land issue
Eastern Cape wants limit placed on number of hectares farmers may own throughout country
LAND reform took centre stage in Johannesburg yesterday as ANC delegates debated how to transform the South African economy. While other proposals on radical socioeconomic transformation were discussed, it was the land question and the long-mooted expropriation without compensation, which dominated the debate in commissions.
ANC Eastern Cape secretary Oscar Mabuyane said the discussions would continue today with the outcomes and recommendations also set to be tabled before conference today.
About 5 000 ANC delegates have been gathering at Johannesburg’s Nasrec Expo Centre for the party’s national policy conference which is set to run until tomorrow.
The Eastern Cape is pushing for a cap to be placed on the number of hectares owned by farmers throughout the country.
The proposal is that if a farmer exceeds the threshold, the remaining portion of his land should be expropriated with compensation, and be redistributed.
In an interview about the deliberations on economic and social transformation, Mabuyane said they were discussing the term “socioeconomic transformation” and how to implement it practically.
“The definition speaks to the structure of the economy, matters of ownership and control.
“How do we make those key fundamental pillars to be what we want to transform the economy?” Mabuyane said.
He said while nothing had been decided on, delegates were also throwing around ideas on industrialisation.
“We are saying there must be a deliberate shift from a contractional fiscal arrangement to an expansional fiscal arrangement, so that we focus on infrastructure investment as we encourage the private sector to come on board,” he said.
Mabuyane said the delegates in the commission, led by ANC MPL Phumelele Ndamase, were pushing to see major projects such as the Umzimvubu N2 highway and oil refinery projects feature prominently in the national development strategy.
He said the commission was also discussing suggestions to ban the export of raw materials and rather invest in the country’s manufacturing capacity.
Other commissions yesterday included health, education, government legislation and international relations.
There were proposals from the province that the establishment of a state bank be expedited by expanding the capacity of Postbank.
ANC provincial spokesman Mlibo Qoboshiyane said they were clear that quicker registration and licensing of Postbank to distribute social grants was needed.
“There is no way that we can depend on a private company for the distribution of grants. The distribution must be done by a state-owned institution such as Postbank,” he said.
On the land debate, Qoboshiyane said: “There must be a faster acceleration of land distribution,
“The issue of radical land policy is what we are going to conclude here, whether we are going to tamper with Section 25 [of the constitution on land expropriation] is a matter that we are debating.”
Agri EC president Doug Stern said organised agriculture would vehemently oppose a policy that places a cap on the amount of land currently owned by farmers, saying it was an infringement on their rights.
“I am reluctant to comment as this is still at a draft bill stage. No one in the government knows what they really want.
“I don’t see it being implemented at all. If you fragment the land in the Karoo, what part of the farm is going to be taken away? “Is it his homestead? “And how is this going to work for the rest of the country in relation to value? Will it be a one size fits all?
“There are so many uncertainties at this point,” Stern said.