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 It is not the ANC policy to expropriate land without compensation 

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The ANC will not engage with its youth wing over the issue of land reform, ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe said on Wednesday.

“It will not be helpful to engage in violent polemics with the ANC Youth League in the run-up to the ANC policy conference. The conference will address land reform in detail,” he said.

“It is not the ANC policy to expropriate land without compensation, and personally I don’t think it will work,” he said.  

Mantashe was talking at a meeting between the African National Congress and South African farmers in Morningside, Johannesburg.

He said the party was engaging with both established and emerging farmers to help create a successful agricultural environment in the country.

“Land distribution [to emerging farmers who claim land] must go together with things like food production and food security.”  

Mantashe was joined at the meeting by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa, who said the issue of farmer safety was “touched on” during the meeting.

Afriforum and the Transvaal Agriculture Union (TAU SA) announced on Wednesday that they were preparing to lay charges against ANC Youth League deputy president Ronald Lamola over comments he made about land reform.

On Tuesday, Lamola said the Constitution must be changed to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.

He warned that if white South Africans did not hand land over to poor blacks, there could be land invasions like those which took place in Zimbabwe.

Afriforum legal representative Willie Spies said Lamola’s comments amounted to hate speech and fell within the definitions of incitement to violence.

TAU-SA said it was “disgusted” by Lamola’s comments and would file a complaint with the SA Human Rights Commission.

Spies said Lamola specifically referred to, among others, “the Van Tonders and the Van der Merwes on farms” and warned that their safety cannot be guaranteed.

ANC spokeswoman Magdalene Moonsamy said the groups needed to be “ready for the fight of their lives”.

“We welcome this battle, and we will not retreat. We are adamant that this issue of land cannot be negotiated, and at no point will we back down,” she said.

Mantashe said he chose not to watch a video made by Afriforum which called on South Africans to take a stand against certain ANC policies, specifically about land ownership.

“I have a problem with Afriforum, they are an offshoot of Mynwerkersunie — a racist organisation. I have no desire to watch it. I will only get surprised if they [Afriforum] do something different.”  

The video, entitled “ANC, the conmen” alleges that the ANC plans to make fundamental changes to the Constitution, which will remove the right to private land ownership.

The SABC has refused to flight the video as a paid advert.

Comments

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Tue May 21 15:36:06 SAST 2013 ::

Jun 6, 2012

swona

ANCYL thinks they are the only once who have a right to land in this country, most of them historically, their great great great grand fathers were lazy did not even own a mud house, but sleeping under the tree!
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Jun 6, 2012

ZUMAMUSTGO

Typical Mantashe, the land was taken by force and the willing buyer willing seller is not working so what?
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Jun 6, 2012

ZUMAMUSTGO

Dictatorship is in full force, who Mantashe does he think he is? this is for ANC members to decide during the policy conference and not for him to make his narrow selfish pronouncement to please the whites.
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Jun 6, 2012

Shredder

@swona - If you are white, your statement is racist and crap. If you are black, you need some serious help. A Steve Bantubonke Biko help.

@Mantashe - For once I agree with you.
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Jun 6, 2012

Tarantula

Lol@ Swona.

Eish wa tella maan.
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Jun 6, 2012

swona

truth hurts!
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Jun 6, 2012

Mantengwane

Sometimes i wonder if there is a competition for the most stupid comment to be made on this forum. That is why i dont get surprised by comments by airheads like Swona. Nonetheless Mantashe must first get the opinion of the delegates to the policy conference before making any assumptions about what the delegates will agree on.Especially about something as sensitive as this topic.
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Jun 6, 2012

ZUMAMUSTGO

@swona
Wena you are out of order, you seem to be trying to defend the likes of Mantashe and Zuma
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Jun 6, 2012

Tarantula

Hmmm, now Mantashe is deciding on behalf of other members. These are dictators tendencies.
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Jun 6, 2012

makuthethw'inyaniso

taking Lamola to court wont assist anything, you did that to Malema thinking the land question would just vanish in thin air there comes Lamola after him there are many others who are coming who would raise the land question. i know it must be irritating to hear this all over again but the truth is it needs to be adressed soon than later. the land grab in Zimbabwe was never a policy when it started the failer to come to part from other side forced people of Zim to grab land wrightly or wrongly its a topic for another debate. afriforum is not in touch with reality landlessness its frustrating for Africans.
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