The DA'S response to the Green Paper on Land Reform
Note to editors: The following document and press statement was presented by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP and Annette Steyn MP during a press conference on the DA's response to the Green Paper on Land Reform in Cape Town today.
Today we present our comprehensive response on the Land Reform Green Paper recently tabled by the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Gugile Nkwinti. A copy of this document can be found here.
The arrival of the Green Paper on Land Reform has been a very long time coming. It is a testament to the importance of this document that so many leaked copies of draft versions have been in circulation over the past year.
This 11 page policy offering gives a glimpse into the ANC's priorities in respect of land reform. As expected, it relies heavily on a discourse of apartheid and colonial dispossession while paying no attention to government inefficiencies after 17 years in power.
Most importantly, it offers no vision of how to substantially address the inequities bequeathed by apartheid in a coherent and sustainable way. If the Green Paper is implemented in its current form, the landless of South Africa will continue to feel the effects of the past.