‘High-End' Properties Not The Target Of Expropriation - Mahlati

About 60% of South Africans do not have tenure of their land, and according to Dr Vuyo Mahlati, president of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA), radical correction steps need to include expropriation without compensation. Donwald Pressly reports.

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One of the greatest challenges facing South Africa is that people do not have ownership of the land on which they live or work. This is a particular problem when it comes to tribal trust land, and communities that occupy and farm on state-owned land.

According to Dr Vuyo Mahlati, president of the African Farmers’ Association of South Africa (AFASA) and chairperson of the Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture, who recently addressed the Cape Town Press Club, over 60% of land occupiers do not have title deeds.

Mahlati said the way in which the land crisis in South Africa could be resolved, particularly in rural areas, would be to ensure that people were given title deeds.

This should take the form of “a collective title”. In addition, women, who head the bulk of households in rural communities, should be given special attention when it came to providing long-term leasehold agreements on land owned by the state.