DA, ANC at loggerhead on land-audit delays
A Democratic Alliance (DA) statement on Allafrica.com says that, in reply to a parliamentary question at the beginning of March, the minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti undertook to complete its comprehensive land audit by the end of June. Yet, the DA's Tina Joemat-Pettersson now said "that this would now only be done by the end of the year."
"This delay," the DA's statement on Allafrica.com says, "is causing unnecessary confusion and paralysis in the crucial national issue of land reform." The ANC prefers not to complete the audit prior to the centenary commemoration of the 1913 Land Act next year for political reasons.
Earlier, Times Live reported that Agriculture minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said that Section 25 of the Constitution allowed the government to expropriate land with compensation. This could be accomplished by "building the capacity of the state" and completing the land audit.
For more:
- Allafrica.com: Department of Land Reform at Sea on Land Audit
- Times Live: Avoid land reform pandemonium: Agriculture Minister
