‘Our people need land, and we will provide them with land’ – Mashatile

Deputy President Paul Mashatile said the government needs to speed up the expropriation of land and property for the public good.

But rather than opposition parties insisting on amending the Constitution to allow for nil compensation, Mashatile said this could be achieved through the recently enacted Expropriation Act - which he said is working well so far.

He was pressed by the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

The parties wanted to know whether the Government of National Unity (GNU) will introduce legislation to amend the Constitution after EFF’s failed attempt in the previous Parliament.

The MK Party’s Brian Molefe questioned Mashatile as to whether the ANC had abandoned its conference resolution on expropriation without compensation, adding that allowing the courts to determine this under the Expropriation Actis a sell-out position.

But Mashatile said while government has to stick within the legal framework, it remains committed to expropriating land for farming purposes.

“Our people need land, and we will provide them with land, that much we are committed to. We will not deviate from that.”

He said while amending the Constitution failed to pass parliamentary muster - expropriation without compensation is happening where it’s in the public interest.

“Our only challenge is that we need to move faster. And I’m happy to report that we are beginning to see a much faster movement. We are pushing much faster to expropriate land.”

Mashatile said the ANC remains in favour of expropriation without compensation and that this can be achieved under the current legislation.

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