Mashatile lays down a marker on land expropriation

DEPUTY President Paul Mashatile has drawn a firm line on the unresolved land question, declaring that the government will not be intimidated into silence as it pressed ahead with land expropriation to redress centuries of dispossession, transform the economy and reduce deepening inequality.

- KAMOGELO MOICHELA

Speaking at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) gala dinner at the Rustenburg Civic Centre in North West recently, Mashatile framed land reform as a moral, constitutional and economic imperative, rooted in the country’s painful history.

He said the government acknowledged “the painful history of land dispossession and the ongoing struggles many South Africans face”, stressing that silence was no longer an option.

His remarks come amid heightened political tensions over land reform, following lobbying trips to the US by AfriForum and the Solidarity Movement. The organisations have claimed that the South African government is targeting minority communities, particularly white farmers — assertions repeatedly rejected by the state as misleading and harmful. This led to the US not attending the G20 summit in Johannesburg last month and to tariffs being increased.