By Silusapho Nyanda Government should control how land is shared says the Economic Freedom Fighters.

EFF party leader Julius Malema told a press conference on Tuesday that they did not want to oppress people but rather that the state should own the land and distribute according to rations that he says will give a fair share to everyone. Malema said the state owning land would not deter investors.

“Banks are not looking for ownership they are looking land tenure. If you can guarantee a security of tenure then you will have investment,” Malema said. He said people don’t have to own the land they build on.

“Land is not property. It is part of property,” Malema told journalists. He made an example of the Mia family-owned Watefall Estate in Midrand, Johannesburg. He said people in that estate did not own that piece of land but were able to secure funding to build houses.

“You see the Midrand Waterfall. An Indian family owns that land, the Mia family. They own the whole of that land there but people who build there don’t see themselves as property-less. They continue to buy and build houses on the land that they do not own,” Malema said.

The party’s deputy president Floyd Shivambu backed his commander-in-chief, saying the biggest investments in the country were made on state-owned land.

“The biggest investments in South Africa take place on state-owned land. In the Coega [industrial development zone in Port Elizabeth], East London development zone and the Dube trade port and in Atlantis,” Shivambu said as he listed his examples.

Malema said they were not calling for a ban on all privately owned. “Let’s all throw in ideas in this basket till we find each other.

"The state will guarantee security so that those who want to use the land can be able to receive funding so they can work the land."