Patience of S. Africans wearing thin with regard to land reform: deputy president

CAPE TOWN, March 16 (Xinhua) -- South Africa must act differently and with speed in land reform as "the patience of our People is wearing thin," Deputy President David Mabuza said on Saturday.

land reform, along with transformation of the economy, is a national imperative and will continue to be implemented with vigor, Mabuza said at the handover ceremony of the settled and finalized land claim to Ubizo Community in Empangeni, KwaZulu-Natal Province.

The community was handed back a land that was wrongfully dispossessed from its People during the apartheid days, Mabuza said.

"We are here to make right those wrongs and to say to our People, here is your land and no more shall you be a slave in the land of your birth.

"We say today, this land of your forefathers, is now restored to you and your future generations," said Mabuza.

This settled and finalized land claim is essentially in two parts. The first phase consists of the acquisition of land for the Ubizo community, which is a total of 2,547 hectares amounting to 136.4 million rand (about 9.54 million U.S. dollars).

The second phase to the value of 1.7 million rand will soon be finalized and restored to the community, according to Mabuza.

"We believe that today we finally have the opportunity to right the wrongs of the past by ensuring the restoration of land to its rightful owners," Mabuza said.

The South African government has recently accelerated land reform by returning settled and finalized land claims to black communities.

In October last year, President Cyril Ramaphosa also handed over a settled and finalized land claim to the People of KwaMkhwanazi, KwaZulu-Natal Province.

The land claim settlement is among the first settled and finalized land claims that the government has unlocked to hand over to its rightful beneficiaries.

"Those of us in government, must work with speed in implementing interventions that will take us forward," Mabuza said.

The government, he said, has resolved to release land that is in the hands of the state in order to advance the objectives of land reform.

The government under the leadership of the African National Congress (ANC) will continue to implement the radical economic transformation that will result in equitable, inclusive and cohesive society, said Mabuza.

"This is at the core of fostering nation building and social cohesion as envisioned by our founding forebears," Mabuza said.

However, he said that as the land reform program is implemented, "we shall do so within the prescripts of our laws."

South Africa's land reform, characterized by land expropriation without compensation, has drawn ire from opponents at home and abroad.

Opponents argue that the process will drive away white farmers, threaten food security and negatively impact the economy.

But the government has repeatedly assured that it will pursue the land reform without destabilizing the agricultural sector, endangering food security in the country, or undermining economic growth and job creation.

About 25 years after the end of apartheid, the minority whites still own most of the land in South Africa. The ANC has come under fire for the lack of political will to effectively address the land issue.