Malema calls for land 'revolution'

Johannesburg - The land revolution was a necessary one, but South Africa was not going to go the way of Zimbabwe, ANC Youth League president Julius Malema said on Tuesday.

"We are not going to do it that way [like Zimbabwe]. We are going to pass legislation," he told the Mining for Change conference in Sandton.

Malema said the state would make an offer to land owners which they would be compelled to take.

"You don't give us an offer... you are too expensive," he said.

He said large parts of South Africa, in the Western Cape in particular, were in foreign hands.

"This country belongs to the people who live in it, black and white.... its important as we move forward that we redistribute this land to the people of South Africa."

In punting nationalisation of the South African mines, Malema said white men continued to get richer while black women, particularly rural women continued to get poorer.

"If we don't take a radical stance to intervene, rural women will never realise economic freedom in their lifetime."

Black women in rural areas were also denied land - ownership of which plays a critical role in participating in the South African economy.

Draw investment

The nationalisation of South Africa's mines should not scare investors but could attract greater investment, Malema said.

"We believe we will attract more than enough investors.”

While the country has been warned that talk of nationalisation would be off-putting to investors, Malema said there should be no need for them to flee when the subject was still an open debate in a democracy.

"We are not grabbing mines here. We are talking about how we can use our mineral resources to improve the lives of our people.”