The African National Congress (ANC) says populism and emotions are at the centre of sporadic land grabbing that is taking place across the townships around the Western Cape.
The party is holding a land summit in Stellenbosch, ahead of next week’s parliamentary hearings on land expropriation without compensation.
Since the ruling party’s adoption of a resolution to expropriate land without compensation during its December conference, there has been a flare up of land grabs in the Western Cape, some turning violent.
The latest being at a popular tourists town of Hermanus outside Cape Town.
“There is a piece of land that was allocated for housing and the local government sold the land, to prevent the kind of populist instincts that have risen. If that does not happen, people will want to do what they are doing and it’s unfortunate,” says Western Cape ANC Election Organiser, Ebrahim Rasool.
The party says the situation in Hermanus might present a case for the implementation of its resolution on land expropriation without compensation.
“We need to see if for instance the Hermanus situation, if the violence continues, if the government of the DA in Hermanus does not reverse the sale. And that is the reality of the situation on the ground,” adds Ebrahim Rasool.
The ANC will present its resolutions to parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee on Land Expropriation next week.
