Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Mmusi Maimane, said land expropriation without compensation was nothing more than a gambit by the African National Congress (ANC), ahead of the 2019 General Election. Maimane, speaking at a Freedom Day celebration in Soshanguve yesterday, said the ANC and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) could not stop talking about land expropriation at the moment, adding that all of their commentary on their subject was mere bluster. He said South Africans should not allow the wool to be pulled over their eyes.
The Leader of the Opposition said the expropriation of land without compensation would not bring economic freedom to the majority of South Africans, adding that the DA was the only party with a legitimate plan for the landless in this country.
“They claim to be talking for all South Africans when they say that land expropriation without compensation is the path to freedom for poor South Africans,” said Maimane. “But if we’re going to talk about the issue of land and home ownership on this Freedom Day, then we have to ask ourselves: Whose freedom exactly?” “Expropriating land so that the state can own it and lease it out to the poor won’t empower anyone. Yet this is the plan that is being offered as a solution to our country’s inequality,” added Maimane.
The general sentiment on opposition benches is that the ANC has exploited the vulnerability of South Africans for the past two decades, by telling them what they want to hear and not following through on those commitments in any way.
Maimane believes this is another glaring example of these ANC tactics.
“Living in your house or on your farm as a tenant of the state is just another way to keep people trapped in poverty,” he said. “True freedom is individual freedom. It’s when every man, woman and child is individually empowered to live life the way they choose. The state can’t be empowered on your behalf. That’s why the DA believes in real land reform, where the ultimate goal is for South Africans to own their homes and their land, and where their right to own their property is not threatened by government.”