The African National Congress’ January 8 Statement and manifesto are reminiscent of what an analyst once said of the country’s foreign policy: ‘a little bit of this and a little bit of that’.

The concept of private property came about as a result of colonial efforts to disenfranchise African people, advocate Tembeka Ngcukaitobi told people gathered at The Forge’s talks on land in South Africa, scheduled to run throughout the month. 

In an 11th hour plea, the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) couriered letters to every member of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure yesterday, urging them on the eve of their final discussion on the Expropriation Bill today to delete no-compensation provisions that pose an existential threat to all South Africans’ property rights.

The Expropriation Bill — democratic South Africa’s third attempt since 2008 to replace apartheid legislation still on the statute books — has been enmeshed in controversial, but ultimately stalled moves for a constitutional amendment for compensationless expropriation. 

Dr Anthea Jeffery and Terence Corrigan, among others in the pages of the Daily Friend, have at length explained in detail why the so-called “Expropriation” Bill is a dangerous piece of legislation.

And it’s not surprising.