Cape Town – President Jacob Zuma has called on traditional leaders to organise themselves and work together to claim land that was taken from their forefathers.
Addressing the National House of Traditional Leaders at the Old Assembly Chamber in Parliament on Thursday, the President said land was a very important aspect to economic growth and that the people of South Africa are nothing without it.
The President said he had made a suggestion to traditional leaders to come together and appoint a strong legal team under one umbrella body, as opposed to having separate lawyers.
He said this would allow them to also assemble strong researchers that would help them claim their land successfully and ensure that no land remains unclaimed.
“At some point when I was here opening this house, I urged traditional leaders to adopt a different approach rather than individual, isolated communities claiming land, with some communities having no money to pay lawyers, and therefore, perhaps failing to present their case very well.
“I suggested that we should all come together as traditional leaders and have one set of lawyers that we can all contribute to so that there can be no area that remains in the wrong hands simply because could not afford lawyers that can help them to claim land,” he said.
The President also said that this is the Year of the Freedom Charter, which states that land belongs to all the people who work it.
Quoting AB Xuma, a former ANC President in the 1940s, the President said the fundamental basis of all wealth and power is the ownership and acquisition of free-hold titled land.
He said land was a source from which people derived their existence, wealth in minerals, food and where people build their homes.
“If we want to eradicate poverty, one of the critical requirements is access to land.
“You then realise why during the State of the Nation Address (SONA) we raised this issue, and why we continue raising it because it is a challenge we need to address,” he said.
The address was attended by traditional leaders, government Ministers, Parliament’s presiding officers, Premiers and MECs from various provinces.
The President urged traditional leaders to reorganise themselves and conduct their claims properly, and not emotionally, in order to claim land that is in wrong hands before the 2019 deadline.
“If you do so, you will have qualified researchers who must do thorough research and collect information about what happened to the land,” he said.
Communal Land Bill
During the SONA, the President announced policy interventions with regards to land that will soon be up for discussion.
He said the National House of Tradition Leaders cannot be excluded from participating in these processes as land matters also affect rural communities.
“Government has also developed the communal land tenure policy, which aims to address a number of critical challenges.
“The policy was consulted with stakeholders at the land tenure summit in September 2014. It has now evolved into the Communal Land Bill, which is expected in government during the year,” he said.
He said the policy aims to clarify, strengthen and formalise the land rights of communal area residents through the introduction of institutionalised land rights to be held by households.
The law would also allow their children to inherit the piece of land, use it as collateral to access credit, enter into investment partnerships and play an active role in how land is distributed, used and allocated to investments.
The President said through this law, the lives of people who live in communal land would change for the better.
He also said land was important for food security.
“Our vision, therefore, is for government and all other role players to ensure access to land and to control means to produce sufficient, safe and nutritious food at all times.
“National and international surveys indicate that South Africa is the most food secure country in the continent,” he said.
The National House of Traditional Leaders will debate the President’s speech next Tuesday. – SAnews.gov.za
