Parliament, Friday, 21 May 2021 – The Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure kick-started the first leg of public hearings in the KwaZulu-Natal Province in Dundee where the committee heard contrasting views on the Bill yesterday.
Members of the African National Congress in the hall told the committee that they support the expropriation of property and land for the purposes of the restoration of dignity to the majority of South Africans who were dispossessed of their land through the system of colonialism. They argued that the Bill is the best mechanism to redress that historical injustice.
Members of the Democratic Alliance who were joined by other residents in the hall told the committee that they do not support the Bill. They argued that expropriation will have far reaching negative implications on, among other things, food production and employment of farm workers. Furthermore, they argued that expropriation will stop foreign investors in investing in South Africa.
Farmworkers who participated in the hearings expressed their support for the implementation of the expropriation Bill. They told the committee that they do not have cemeteries on the farms to bury their relatives. They also told the committee that they live under severe conditions on the farms and called for speedy implementation of the expropriation Bill.
The committee heard that fertile land is in the hands of the white people in the Umzinyathi District. The residents used the opportunity presented to them by the hearings to inform the committee about the problems they encounter on a daily basis. They told the committee that they do not get the assistance they deserve from the officials at the offices of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in Pietermaritzburg regarding progress on their claims.
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Nolitha Ntobogwana told the residents that the committee will refer all the land claims to the relevant government departments. She said the committee will consider all the views it received on the Bill at Parliament and it will submit a report about the public hearings in the National Assembly.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE, MS NOLITHA NTOBOGWANA.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Sureshinee Govender
Parliamentary Communication Services
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E-mail: sugovender@parliament.gov.za
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