Showdown looms over land reform submissions

PARTIES in Parliament are heading for a showdown after opposition MPs argued over a report on the written submissions before adopting a report on land expropriation.

A meeting yesterday – meant to adopt a report on the expropriation of land without compensation by the constitutional review committee – was mired in controversy over another report on the written submissions.

The report had found that the majority of the people who made written submissions did not want the expropriation of land without compensation. It found that out of 449 000 written submissions, 65% did not want land expropriation and 34% wanted the Constitution to be changed. Only 1% were undecided.

However, a company commissioned to compile this report was ejected from Parliament after parties questioned the credibility of the report.

Yesterday parties argued whether they should continue to adopt the draft report of the committee or wait until the report on the written submissions is tabled.

The ANC and EFF said the draft report must be supported and there was no need for the tabling of the other report on the written submissions. They said parties that wanted to know what is in the written submissions must view those submissions.

But the DA, the African Christian Democratic Party and Cope warned about this approach, saying the views in the written submissions must be considered. More than 500 000 written submissions were tabled in Parliament.

Glynnis Breytenbach of the DA and Steve Swart of the ACDP said there were serious constitutional implications if the report on written submissions was not considered.

Breytenbach said they needed to look into the matter. “To meet our constitutional obligation we need to understand what was in the written submissions,” said Breytenbach.

Swart said hundreds of thousands of written submissions were made and they need to know the views of these people. “We are sitting with a dilemma to comply with our constitutional obligation on the written submissions, whether there is any process on this report and what is the status of that report,” said Swart.

But ANC MPs said the committee has met its constitutional obligations.

Committee chairperson Lewis Nzimande said the report on the written submissions did not inform the report before the committee.

“That report does not stand on its own. It does not inform this working document.”

Nzimande said they will adopt the report on the expropriation of land without compensation by this month before tabling it in Parliament for approval.

The EFF’s Tebogo Mokwele said the number of written submissions did not matter. What was important was the content on the expropriation of land without compensation.

Earlier the ANC and EFF accused other opposition parties of trying to delay the adoption of the report by using delaying tactics.

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