House Chairperson, South Africa's history of racial dispossession has left the country with skewed patterns of land ownership that excluded the majority of black South Africans from the benefits of property ownership and the greater economy.
The Natives Land Act of 1913, which is considered the original sin of apartheid, set in motion these patterns of dislocation and deprivation that characterised property arrangements under the apartheid government. The Act reserved 87% of South Africa's land exclusively for white ownership, and was the basis of Bantustan policy, which relegated black citizens and once prosperous black farmers to a reservoir of cheap and unskilled labour for white farmers and industrialists. An estimated 7 million Africans were forced to relocate to the areas assigned by the government at the time.
The land question is therefore undoubtedly one of the most pressing matters in the course of our 19 years of democracy. Nineteen years after the promulgation of the dreadful Act, the question that needs to be answered is whether we are doing our ultimate best as public representatives to steer the country towards reconciliation and redress, through various land restitution and land reform programmes. This is a difficult question as government is faced with the task of balancing the interests of various stakeholders, the deprived majority, the farming communities, industry stakeholders, and government-run farms, among others. While we appreciate the enormity of the task at hand, it must be said that government is not doing enough. To date, billions of rands have been poured into the land restitution and reform initiatives, but the wheels of this particular vehicle have turned slowly, and in some cases come to a complete halt.
For many, the 1913 Natives Land Act remains a reality. The DA supports sustainable and equitable land reform and rural development. We view it as a moral necessity to correct the imbalances of the past as it is a fundamental condition for growing our economy to benefit all South Africans.
Re rata go leboga pu?o ya temokrasi ge e hlot?e Kgoro ya Tlhabollo ya Dinagamagae le Tso?olo?o ya Naga yeo e lebanego le go fedi?a mathata a dinaga t?eo di amogilwego batho le go di hlabolla.
Re rata go lemo?a mago?i gore ba tlogele melao ya apartheid gomme ba ?omi?e melao ya temokrasi le tlhabologo ya set?haba.
Re leboga go bona dikenywa t?a Kgoro ye ya t?a Tlhabollo ya Dinagamagae le Tso?olo?o ya naga ka go tli?a dipoelo ka ga go t?ewa ga naga morago ga mengwaga ye lekgolo. Lehono re bolela ka taba ye gomme re dumela gore re fihlile mafelelong a yona. Re rata go bona batho bohle ba na le naga gore ba kgone go e ?omi?a. Taba ya go ?omi?a naga e tla hlola me?omo gomme ya fedi?a tlala le bohloki.
Re re mathata ao kgoro ye e lebanego le ona a swanet?e go fedi?wa ka go thwala batho ba go ba le tsebo le bokgoni bja go rarolla pharela ye ya go sepela ka go nanya go bu?et?a batho dinaga t?a bona. Morago ga go lemoga gore ba bangwe ba batho bao ba filwego dinaga ga ba di ?omi?e ka mokgwa wa maleba, re re mmu?o o swanet?e go bot?i?a bakgopedi ba dinaga gore naa maikemi?et?o a bona ke afe ka t?ona. Bao ba se nago maikemi?et?o ba se fiwe naga eup?a ba hlatswiwe matsogo ka ma?eleng.
Rena ba DA re ka thaba go bona leneneo la pu?et?o ya naga le sepet?wa ka molao le tlhompho. Re rata go bona bahlankedi ba mmu?o ba dira mo?omo wa bona ka bokgwari. Re duma go bona taba ya pu?et?o ya naga e fela ka bonako gore Maafrika Borwa a phele ka khut?o. MaAfrika Borwa a re se boeleng morago eup?a re t?weleng pele ka go aga set?haba, re age naga e tee ya bokamoso bjo tee. Re re ke nako ya go gatela pele le go tli?a tlhabologo le kgolo ya ekonomi. Re rata go bona MaAfrika Borwa a ?oma mmogo. (Translation of Sepedi paragraphs follows.)
[We are grateful to the democratic government. It has established the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, which is faced with the task of finding a solution to the challenges of the dispossessed land, and also to develop that land.
We urge the traditional leaders to do away with the apartheid laws. They should apply the democratic laws and also ensure community development.
We are grateful for the developments that are brought about by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform with regard to land dispossession after a period of 100 years. We want to believe that we have come to the end of this issue. We would be happy to see everyone owning a land and also using it productively. The use of land productively will result in job creation, which will also bring an end to hunger and poverty.
The challenges that this department is faced with should be overcome by employing people who have the knowledge and skills to resolve this issue, which is currently being addressed slowly, so that people get their land back.
After realising that some of the people are not using their land productively, we are appealing to the government to ask people who lodge land claims if they have set land goals. If not, they should not be given the land but should be compensated in monetary terms.
The DA members will be happy to see the land restitution programme being processed with respect and according to the law. We would like to see government officials doing their job competently. We would like to see this matter being addressed urgently for the people of South Africa to live peacefully. The people of South Africa are requesting that you continue to build the nation, and build one land that has one future, but not take steps backwards. It is now time to move forward and bring economic growth and development. We want to see the people of South Africa working together.]
Because we understand the struggle of our people, we are very pleased as the DA to have played a part in standing alongside 200 resettled farmers in Gauteng, including Mr Thabo Mokone, who have waited for 10 years to receive the title deeds to their land. The government has shuffled them back and forth while denying them the right to earn an income to support their families as they cannot engage in commercial activities without the necessary paperwork. It remains an area of frustration for 200 farmers. We will continue to stand alongside them until they see the realisation of their 10-year dream.
Chairperson, between 1994 and January this year, the state had acquired 4,123 million hectares for land redistribution at a cost of R12,9 billion. However, R16 billion had been spent over the same period to acquire 1,443 million hectares for restitution. The amount of R16 billion later and the promise to have 30% of the estimated 82 million hectares of agricultural land in South Africa transferred into the hands of resettled farmers remains a pipe dream. Almost 9 000 claims remain unresolved, and the number is certain to keep growing. Hon Minister, we need more than promises and assurances; we need decisive action. The bureaucracy in your office is exacerbated by the corruption in the running of state-owned farms.
Recently, the DA uncovered the scandal of the Kangela Empowerment Trust Farms, where the beneficiaries, whom the profits of the produce are intended to uplift, revealed that instead of experiencing an improved standard of living, they are far worse off than they were before the state- owned initiative. Those appointed by the state are looting profits, lining their pockets and neglecting those they are responsible for looking after.
Chairperson, it is not all doom and gloom. There is hope. Land reform, land restitution, emerging farmers, and communities can look to the future in anticipation of the fulfilment of their sense of security, because where the DA governs, we govern well. [Interjections.] I would like to quote the Western Cape Premier, hon Helen Zille, during our 1913 Land Act celebration, when she said:
We have prioritised finalisation of land claims which had been lingering unfinished under previous governments. We understand that justice delayed is justice denied. In the DA-governed Western Cape, we are very happy that all but one of the land claims has been finalised and the one outstanding claim is on a clear path to resolution.
[Applause.] [Interjections.]