Don’t rush the matter of land redistribution in SA

The Bible tells about God’s creation of man to rule the world, not to ruin it.

When God created man he never said there was one race better than the other race. He created all men equal. The subsequent wars, migration and displacement of humans was created by man, not by God.

Generations have come and gone, but we have witnessed the same mistakes being carried over from one generation to the next generation in one form or the other.

While attempts have been made by world leaders or politicians to create harmony and peace in the world, some politicians are about to create havoc and unnecessary civil unrest in some parts of the world.

The land issue is to this day a very delicate and thorny matter throughout the world, be it in the Middle East where there is confusion between Israel and Palestine, to America where the judiciary is still trying to resolve centuries-old matters involving Native Americans and their famous “Doctrine of Discovery”.

The context and complexity of land ownership in SA cannot and must not be rushed to please certain members of our society in a hasty form.

Any plan or policy to rush through this emotive issue will be reckless and can only be done by those blindfolded by shortsightedness or by pursuit of a populist agenda.

Current ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa said in 1993, while taking part in transition talks with the previous regime, “The massively unequal distribution of land is not merely an unfortunate legacy of apartheid, it is the totally unacceptable continuation of apartheid.”

Now fast forward to 2018. The ANC in its collective wisdom, supported by the Freedom Charter, which was meant to be its guiding compass when it took power in 1994, has failed to move in the right direction in as far as land is concerned.

We have had three very wise and educated former presidents with credible struggle credentials who opted to circumvent any drastic land redistribution.

What has changed now? Why such a rush?

Why did former president Jacob Zuma never push for this radical land reform while the Polokwane and Mangaung national conferences of the ANC took resolutions on this land matter?

The department of rural development under Gugile Nkwinti formed or came up with a comprehensive rural development plan designed to motivate, energise, inspire, train and equip individuals in various farming activities.

What happened to this plan? Was it implemented and supported fully to its intended completion?

The answer is a simple no. If the ANC under Zuma failed twice to implement conference resolutions, what has changed now?

Why should we trust the ANC under Ramaphosa?

If the ANC was sure about its position and direction, Ramaphosa wouldn’t have established the special advisory committee on land while in parliament it voted for the bill to amend our constitution.

It’s a case of putting the cart before the horse.

The ANC made a grand entrance into government in 1994 without any proper sustainable grand plans for our country.

Even former president Nelson Mandela, addressing Americans in 1992, failed to define ANC’s economic policy for our country and simply told them it didn’t matter whether the cat was white or black as long as it caught the mice.

Let the new parties like African Transformation Movement get into parliament and put brakes on this runaway, driverless train to destruction of our country and its citizens. Phillip Giwu

Mthatha