Country’s unique land situation should not be trivialised

SOME critics of land expropriation without compensation, including revered journalist/ political analyst Max du Preez, have trivialised our protracted struggle for freedom and are seemingly averse to our existence as an African nation.

The notion that land expropriation without compensation will be catastrophic for the economy, stability and food security has become populist rhetoric for those purporting to seek to sustain the status quo of racial supremacy (whites owning more than 80% of usable land and wealth).

Blacks have known no worse catastrophe than being forcibly removed from ancestral land, not allowed to own land (Land Act of 1913) and refused burial on farms where generations have lived and toiled as “pseudo-slaves”.

As a result, generations of African families have been disintegrated, thrown into abject poverty and moral degeneration. The near-irreparable damage caused cannot be quantified.

Remedial action in addressing the ills of the past will take much more than recovering land, which is compounded by our porous borders, rogue politicians who daily view informal settlements and poverty while commuting in air-conditioned business class between Cape Town and Tshwane, and the reluctance from the incumbent government to change the legislation.

Of course a responsible approach is required to address our unique challenges and inequality (the largest in the world) challenges. But respecting ill-gotten property rights is not a solution.

All patriots (irrespective of race or creed) need to work together to solve our unique challenges and realise our potential as a nation. Sandton