Summit takes aim at foreigners
2005-07-28 13:32
Johannesburg - Foreigners should own very little land in South Africa, if at all, the land summit heard in Johannesburg on Thursday.
Land and agricultural MECs were briefing delegates on resolutions taken at provincial land conferences ahead of the summit.
Gauteng agriculture, conservation and environment MEC Khabisi Mosunkutu said land ownership by foreigners should be "very limited". Foreigners should rather be offered lease options as land was the country's most precious resource.
He said South Africans should get first right to land ownership in the country.
The Free State provincial conference resolved to call on the national government to urgently address foreign land ownership, said MEC Casca Mokitlane.
He said the province felt that foreigners should be allowed to buy only five percent of land in the country.
Limpopo MEC Dikeledi Magadzi, who was quick to point out that she was not conveying her own personal views, told delegates her provincial conference had called for a moratorium on the sale of land to foreigners.
A government official from the Eastern Cape told delegates foreign ownership "is another form of colonialisation via the cheque book".
"It must be given a halt."
The conferences in Mpumalanga, the North-West and the Northern Cape provinces also resolved that foreign land ownership must be stopped, their MECs said.
New land claims
Most of the provincial conferences also called for the government to allow new land claims. The deadline for claims was in December 1998. The national government has often said it is against new claims as it would be a very expensive affair and lead to economic instability.
The provinces also called on the government to conduct a land audit and update its register on state owned land.
Delegates to this week's summit were supposed to have access to government's interim report on its land audit. However, Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza told Sapa the report would be handed to her only some time next week as it had not yet been completed.
Some provinces also complained about the high price of land and others said if there was land for sale, the government should be allowed to be the first to purchase it as this would help with the reform process.
KwaZulu-Natal agriculture and environmental affairs MEC Lindumusa Ndabandaba said delegates to his provincial conference approved of measures allowing government to expropriate claimed land from unwilling owners.
- SAPA