Cape Town - Ownership, demographic transformation and access to finance are the three property issues the ANC wants to put in the spotlight at its National General Council (NGC) in October.
According to the discussion document for the NGC, there are great divides in the racial distribution of land and property ownership in SA, especially in the commercial, agricultural and property development field.
The document states that under the surface of the "seemingly competitive" SA property industry, land ownership is still skewed towards “white monopoly capital” and must be altered “to reflect the new order”.
Rural land transformation
The document makes it clear that the skills required to successfully operate a commercial farm, have kept the number of black-owned farms at a level not desired by the ANC.
Therefore, agricultural transformation must be supported from the handover of land to final distribution and funding.
Additional initiatives proposed are the release or lease of land to black-owned private business for commercial, agricultural development and incentives for preferential funding.
READ: ANC calls for faster land reform
Construction and fraud
Due to the large amounts of funding required for major construction projects, large scale property developments in SA are mainly undertaken by big corporations backed by established institutions like pension funds and commercial banks, states the document.
It proposes the enhancement of the Department of Small Business Development by expanding its mandate to ease entrance for SMMEs in the property development space.
The revision of procurement processes to prevent fraud and corruption, the promotion of professional project management tools and skills development of small black-owned construction companies are other important aspects proposed.
"Interventions, both at policy and legislative levels, need to be considered with an intention to transform the property industry both at commercial, residential and retail space," the document concludes.