Land issue a complex minefield to resolve

“AWAKING on Friday morning, June 20, 1913, the South African native found himself, not actually a slave, but a pariah in the land of his birth.”

Thus begins chapter one of Sol Plaatje’s political treatise Native Life in

South Africa, first published in 1916. In the second paragraph, Plaatje writes that of the 4.5 million black South Africans, 1.75 million lived in locations and reserves, 0.5 million within municipalities or in urban areas, and “nearly a million as squatters on farms owned by Europeans”.

How do we parcel out South Africa with more than 50 million black South Africans today? Who are the legitimate claimants? Is there any modern state in the world where every citizen is entitled to land?

The issue has become a political weapon for the EFF, the ANC and Black First Land First to brandish before the elections. Long after the elections are over, I doubt if any of the protagonists or their ardent followers would have found a tangible solution to the complex problem. The only beneficiaries might be some of the rabble being misled by the EFF and BLF to occupy land illegally. Such lawlessness will have serious repercussions.

How would President Cyril Ramaphosa appease the half-naked men who have been camping at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, claiming they are the original inhabitants of the land?

HARRY SEWLALL Parkmore