Like in most other areas of the country, there have been mixed reactions expressed by the public in Pietermaritzburg with regards to the on-going hearings on whether to expropriate land without compensation or not.
The country’s wide public hearing hosted by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Constitutional Review held its fourth hearing in the province on Friday.
Some believe land expropriation without compensation will address and correct the injustices of the past while others believe it will reverse some of the gains the country has made since the beginning of the democratic dispensation
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Constitutional Review was in Pietermaritzburg to listen to various public views on the possible amendment of the country’s constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation.
Some who addressed the committee believe the land should be confiscated without compensation to address the injustices of the past. They want the land to be redistributed immediately.
“Whites have huge hectares of land. Let’s start afresh to distribute land equally. There should be a yardstick used for equal distribution. We won’t fail to use our land. Farmers use blacks to till the land. The land should be brought back to the people.”
A farmer from Mpofana Municipality, James Keans, says recently many farms were transferred to ownership of ordinary citizens and today, very few of them are operational.
He believes that people should be trained on how to work the land before any consideration of a constitutional amendment on land.
“We live in an area where agriculture output has declined dramatically. 67 farms were purchased from commercial farmers by government. Today, approximately 2 000 farmers have no employment and the unemployment rate in the region of Mpofana is 70%. Let’s create opportunities and two of these farms are operational. Many are no longer commercial farms.”
Meanwhile, a community member Nicki Butler feels the constitutional amendment suggestion could open the way for more corruption and crime. She called on people not to be emotional about the land issue, but to look for genuine solutions.
“Please don’t get caught up in an emotional aspect at the risk of the future of SA because if people take things and there is no compensation for it, where do we draw the line? Are we then not encouraging crime and saying that crime is acceptable. If somebody has a cellphone that I like is it acceptable for me to take it, though they paid for it. We just need to be very careful and government has a serious responsibility and I don’t envy the task of trying to find a solution.”
The final hearing in the province will take place at Kokstad in the southern part of the province this weekend.
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