Land Expropriation and Redistribution, far from Reach

 
The African National Congress (ANC) released its policy document on land reform last week for its branches to discuss and make inputs for a policy conference later this year.
 
When you look at the proposal the ANC in the document, wants farmers to donate land for redistribution to emerging farmers which is different from previous attempts to land reform.
 
The ANC failed to garner enough support to amend to allow expropriation of land without compensation which is a conference resolution. It appears they are closing the door on expropriation without compensation.
 
Is the ANC relying on the goodwill of landowners to effect its constitutional mandate?
 
It remains to be seen if land owner-driven initiative will solve the land problems when the ruling party has had ample opportunities in the past 28 years with its majority in parliament.
 
In the January 8th statement of 2017, former President Zuma said ANC believes it is time to return the land to the naitives and that government will use the Expropriation of Land Act to speed up land redistribution.

During his January 8th statement, President Jacob Zuma said the ANC believes it is time to return the land to the people
The proposal is a marked change from the party’s previous plans to amend the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation in a legal framework. Instead, it proposes that a ‘land reform and agricultural development agency’ be established.

This agency will be responsible for:

Enabling policy and bureaucratic processes to facilitate land donations;

Creating and managing a recognition mechanism given to farmers donating land;

Providing financial support to beneficiary farmers; and

Developing programs to assist new farmers with market access and to develop skills across the entire agricultural value chain.

Managing state-owned land earmarked for distribution and the process of land donations.

The agency will only record land transactions and accept land for redistribution. The policy document states that this will encourage the voluntary release of land by mines, churches, municipalities, SOEs, government departments, or absentee landlords directly to beneficiary households, communities, or the agency.

Failed attempt
The drastic shift in policy comes after the ANC failed to secure sufficient backing from the opposition to amend the Constitution.

However, justice minister Ronald Lamola said that the party would not be deterred in its plans for land expropriation and will now resort to using regular legislation to facilitate the process.
“Changing the Constitution was just one instrument we could have used,” he said in a December interview.

“The matter is now ended. We will now use our simple majority to pass laws that will allow for expropriation without compensation.”

Most opposition parties warned that the ANC’s proposals would undermine property rights and investor confidence.

The ANC decided in 2016 that constitutional changes were needed to address racially skewed land-ownership patterns dating back to white minority rule. While some legal experts said land seizures were already permissible, the party argued that the issue should be addressed more explicitly.
 
There is also land restitution which can only benefit 5 million people while the only viable option is acquisition and attribution which will require the capacity to develop a formula on who benefits and who does not.
 
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