Cyril promises justice on land
President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed that the government will return the land taken during apartheid to its rightful owners so that people can have land and work it.
Ramaphosa was speaking during the handover of 400 title deeds to the beneficiaries of low-cost government houses at Franklin township‚ about 30km from Kokstad‚ on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast, on Wednesday.
The 450 houses worth R37m were built by the Greater Kokstad municipality in conjunction with the KwaZulu-Natal department of human settlements.
They were built to benefit people who live on farms.
Ramaphosa said handing over the title deeds to the Franklin residents was the fulfilment of one of the promises made by the ANC government.
“Today we’re handing over title deeds which show that people own the houses.
“More are still going to be built because we have not finished our job.
“There is still a lot of development work to be done‚” he said.
“As we move forward we’ll also make sure that the land that was taken away will be returned so you do not continue to stay on farms.
“The land that was taken from our forefathers‚ we are going to make sure that it’s returned back to your hands.
“We want you to have your own farms and your own land.
“Our forebears were deprived of opportunities.
“Land was taken away from them and all their assets were taken away from them.
“Now our government is going to make sure that the land that was taken away from our people is restored to the people of our country.
“Our people must have the land and work it.”
Human settlements minister Nomaindia Mfeketho said they wanted to celebrate with the Franklin community because there had been a problem with issuing people with title deeds since the dawn of democracy in 1994.
“But now we’re going to give title deeds‚” she said.