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Government could have done better in redistributing land: Mabuza

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Deputy President David Mabuza has conceded that government had erred in the past by not using land that is in its hands for restitution. He says while the constitutional reforms to provide for the expropriation of land is necessary, more could have been done to use the land that government already has to speed up land reform.

Mabuza has been answering questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

Government has been criticized in the past that it had rushed to adopt the policy on expropriation of land without compensation without first using existing land in the hands of the state.

Mabuza conceded that not releasing this land to speed up land reform was a mistake.

“That land could have been redistributed to people. It could have increased our productive capacity in terms of agriculture. It could have lessened the shortage of land for human settlement. I mean we could have done a bit as government. So, we take that criticism and we will move faster. You will realise the kind of land that we are going to release. This land is there in the heads of government and we are saying to the department tell us why you should keep that land?”

In the video below Deputy President David Mabuza answers questions from Members of the Provincial Legislature: 

Land grabs 

Mabuza says, however, he is concerned about reports of sporadic land grabs, including incidents in the North West. He has, however, urged municipalities to enforce their rights by making sure no one is allowed to illegally settle on land owned by them.

“I don’t agree with municipalities that they will allow people to invade land and they keep quiet, and then want to come at the later day and say no you must leave. And they don’t provide them with an alternative land. The moment you put the first shack as a municipality, I’ll be there and say; ‘And then? What’s your problem? This is not your land.’ Because it is the responsibility of the government to look after its assets and it is the responsibility of municipalities to look after their assets.”

Eskom

Mabuza has also expressed confidence in the new Chief Executive Officer of Eskom, saying he is what the country has been waiting for.

He says the problems of energy generation that Eskom is facing are necessary as they will strengthen it in the future. He says he is satisfied with the work being done at the power utility to try and bring it back to full operation.

He added, however, that government is unhappy that Medupi and Kusile power stations have not been able to contribute the amount of energy that they were expected to.

He said, however, he was impressed by the new leadership at Eskom, especially the Chief Executive Officer.

“I must commend the new CEO, he is doing very well. You can hear the message that is coming from Eskom that is consistent, maintenance. Even if it means putting certain power stations out of operation, do that so that you have a secure power supply. This is the message that South Africans have been waiting for and we can see now that the CEO is on the right track.”

 

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