Land claimants urged to verify status of outstanding claims

Photo: Robin Hammond

KwaZulu-Natal ANC bows to King Goodwill Zwelithini on land issue

The ANC have changed their tune regarding the Ingonyama Trust. Following president Ramaphosa’s personal assurances to King Goodwill Zwelithini, provincial ANC leagues are also saying that the Ingonyama Trust will be exempt from expropriation without compensation.

Land claimants urged to verify status of outstanding claims

Photo: Robin Hammond

Following King Goodwill Zwelithini’s well-supported imbizo on the issue of the KwaZulu-Natal’s traditional lands, the African National Congress (ANC) has backtracked on previous statements regarding expropriation of all land.

In an official statement released by ANC KZN co-ordinator, Sihle Zikalala, the political party in the area is in support of maintaining tribal lands under traditional administration. The ANC has hit back at former president Kgalema Motlanthe for his brash statements regarding the Ingonyama Trust.

Ingonyama Trust exempt from expropriation without compensation

Speaking to IOL News, political analyst, Professor Somadoda Fikeni, claims this sudden change in direction from the ANC is aimed at garnering votes in KZN, with elections just around the corner.

Fikeni believes that president Cyril Ramaphosa representing the ANC as a whole will need to parley with the Zulu king and definitively explain their stance on the Ingonyama Trust. Fikeni says:

“The ANC is worried that other parties like the IFP may upstage them in KZN because they are moving closer to the king [Goodwill Zwelithini] over this issue.”

Ingonyama Trust discussed at the ANC land summit in Durban

Speaking at the ANC’s land summit in Durban on Monday, Zikalala reiterated what president Ramaphosa had said in defence of the Ingonyama Trust. Last week the president of South Africa addressed the Zulu King, allaying any fears he may have regarding the expropriation of traditional lands.

This comes in the wake of furious debate regarding land expropriation and its effect on traditional land. King Zwelithini has had fighting words for anybody attempting to move in on his traditional land, going as far as to say that he would leave South Africa, with the Zulu Nation, should government meddle in their affairs.

Judge Jerome Ngwenya, the chairperson of the Ingonyama Trust, has said he appreciates the ANC’s willingness to engage on the issue of traditional land. President Ramaphosa’s words of support were welcomed by Ngwenya, but the chairperson maintains that further engagement surrounding the land issue is needed.

Judge Ngwenya still voiced his concern on the current parliament bill:

“The high-level panel was not the only thing that created this unfortunate anxiety. There is still a bill in Parliament waiting to be passed.”

ANC provincial task team convener, Mike Mabuyakhulu, also reassured administrators of traditional land, that the purpose of land expropriation is to reimburse native South Africans, and not diminish their comparatively small stake of land even further.

Although clearly stating that the focus of the land summit is not the Ingonyama Trust, Mabuyakhulu elaborated on the ANC’s stance regarding land expropriation, saying:

“The truth is that for many who had their land grabbed, it was taken without any compensation to the owners. We are making right what was done wrong.”