WINDHOEK, MAR (NAMPA) ? New South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said his administration will proceed in its quest to expropriate land without compensation while ensuring that economic growth, job creation and agricultural production are not interrupted.
Speaking to the media at State House after meeting with President Hage Geingob on Friday, Ramaphosa said his administration will make sure that the country?s economy is not negatively impacted by its latest land reform move. ?
Point number 2, we must ensure that there is a boost in agricultural production and that there is food security,? said Ramaphosa.
To achieve this, he said, South Africans and investors need to look at the expropriation of land without compensation positively. ?We are approaching it by looking at addressing the land issue in a positive way.
We should take away the panic and fear that is being instilled in the hearts of a number of people in our country and say to them [that] we are going to handle this issue very responsibly.?Ramaphosa continued: ?
We are going to make sure that as we ensure that our people get land, access to land, we do it in a way that we see it as part of the economic growth path of our economy.?
He said expropriation of land should never lead to negative economic growth as that will mean that they ?are not addressing it properly?. This week, opposition party the Economic Freedom Fighters? (EFF) motion on land reform was passed by South Africa?s parliament.
The motion calls for a constitutional amendment that allows for land expropriation without compensation.Ramaphosa, however, indicated that the motion to expropriate land without compensation was discussed at the 54th African Nation Congress (ANC) conference in December.
According to him, the resolution that was taken at the time stated that ?we must bring about reform around land and we must be able to expropriate land without compensation?.
(NAMPA)MEM/PS
