Assassination of land activists a consequence of land reform failure by the ANC
11 December 2020
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is raising national alarm over a growing trend where land activists are becoming victims of assassination due to years of unresolved land disputes and a lethargic approach to land reform by the ANC government.
This week, the country heard the gruesome story of a land activist couple in the Eastern Cape, Takiyana and Nontembiso April, who were gunned down at their farm in the Sakhisizwe municipal area. In October, well known land activist Fikile Ntshangase was shot and killed in her home in Ophondweni, KwaZulu Natal.
The DA condemns these acts of violence in the strongest terms and extends its condolences to the victim’s families and friends.
The deaths of innocent land activists, fighting to assert their land rights, is a consequence of the ANC’s failure to expedite the land reform process since 1994. Communities have now been condemned to a permanent state of land disputes, often with devastating consequences as was the case with the recent assassinations. The land reform leadership vacuum created by the ANC has given rise to vigilantes who now want to assert control over disputed land through murder.