Chairpersons concerned about proposed land reform act

Date: 26 September 2003 By: 

This was the view of the Chairpersons Association, expressed in a media statement issued this week with regard to the amendments to the Expropriation Act. The association explained that giving a landowner notice of expropriation at a price below actual market-related value (which is to be established by the Minister) would mean that the landowner might have to evacuate his farm within three months, without payment, pending a court case. The court case may continue for three to six years at very high cost to the landowner. As the landowner will have been expropriated, he will have to evacuate his farm, leaving him without accommodation, any source of income or any capital. The onus of proof will rest solely on the shoulders of the landowner through the review process. No appeal grounds are available to the landowner, but only limited review grounds, which leave the landowner and his workers, as well as the stability of this region, at the mercy of a politician, who may have his own hidden agenda before an election. "This whole approach is unfair and unjust to the landowner and his employees. How can any landowner or employee survive such a one-sided, unjust, unfair process and unequal approach?" the Association asked.

The association urged the government to learn from the past, where the same piece of legislation was abused by politicians to cause forced, unjust and painful removals before 1994, during the Apartheid era.

"Are we now going to repeat these monstrous acts once again, with even more serious results? Are we due now to go through these healing processes for a third time, because politicians do not want to realise what the limitations to their powers should be, while they mostly have the intent to have a quick-fix to elections, disregarding the medium- to long-term consequences. The view of the Chairpersons Association is that one should rather go through the correct judicial processes, without any interference by politicians," the Association said.

The Chairpersons Association is a non-political organisation which consists of the chairpersons of some 44 organisations who have 21 000 members. Their purpose is to promote good and transparent governance on all levels of governmental and non-governmental organisations in the Limpopo Region. For further information, contact Mr Robert Phungu or Mr Fritz Ahrens, who are the spokespersons for the Chairpersons Association on Land Reform. A message can be left at Tel (015) 516 0116.

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