Land redistribution mooted

FORMER president Kgalema Motlanthe has said the best way to deal with the land issue is not through restitution but rather redistribution.

Motlanthe was speaking at public hearings held by a high-level panel assessing key legislation. The panel, chaired by the former head of state, was set up by Parliament’s speakers’ forum and the provincial legislatures to examine the efficiency of the country’s current laws.

Yesterday, numerous organisations and community members presented their views to the panel, sitting in Goodwood, Cape Town.

On the last day of the hearings, Motlanthe said the biggest issue to have arisen from those in attendance was unsurprisingly about land.

“The land question has been consistently raised in five provinces and we are not surprised that it once again arises in the Western Cape,” he said.

“Land is linked to identity and language, that is why you see representatives of the San and the Griqua raising these issues.

“That is why they have raised the fact that the con- stitution does not recognise their language, and therefore should be revised.”

Motlanthe added that the best way to deal with the issue of land was through redistribution.

“Restitution is limited to people with legitimate claims to land. The processes are laborious and people are expected to give evidence of their claims,” he said.

“The best way to deal with this is through redistribution. South Africa’s history is one of dispossession; there was land held in trust and by native groups. You have to deal with it holistically and redistribute.”

Chief Cornelius Kok of the Griqua Traditional House urged the government to conduct independent land audits to determine who the true owners of land in the country were.