South Africa’s push for the right to seize land without compensation
won’t target property that belongs to black citizens or is controlled by
traditional leaders, according to Zweli Mkhize, the minister of
cooperative governance and traditional affairs.
Lawmakers started a process to change the constitution to allow for
expropriation without compensation in February after the ruling party
decided last year to adopt the measure as a policy to speed up giving
black people more land. Access to land is one of the symbols of
inequality in the nation of about 56 million where wealth and poverty
are largely divided along racial lines.
The government met with representatives of the National House of
Traditional Leaders over the group’s concerns about the planned
redistribution process, Mkhize’s ministry said in an emailed statement
on Friday.
"A wrong impression has been created that the discussion on land
expropriation includes land in the hands of traditional leaders,” said
Mkhize.
"When government talks about land expropriation, we are
referring to the 87% of the land, not the 13% that is
under the control of traditional leaders and black people."
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