New land reform minister, the PAC’s Mzwanele Nyhontso, vows to ‘use all available means’ to amend Constitution

Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) president Mzwanele Nyhontso – the new Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development – has made no bones about his plans to push for amendments to the Constitution to address land dispossession.

Nyhontso wants to scrap section 25 of the Constitution, because the PAC sees it as a hindrance to resolving the question of land redistribution. However, he said the party is not fixated on expropriation of property without compensation.

Nyhontso told Daily Maverick that while the PAC accepts that the Constitution is among the best in the world, the entrenchment of property rights in section 25 is skewed against African communities.

The PAC, with one seat in Parliament, joined the Government of National Unity (GNU) after the ANC failed to achieve the 50% threshold in the elections on 29 May 2024. Nyhontso’s deputy is the ANC’s Chupu Stanley Mathabatha.

Nyhontso said section 25 seeks to perpetuate “ill-gotten property in the hands of settler communities”.

“Section 25 suggests that through the court processes or mediation some parcels of the land can be tested judiciously for transfer of ownership. They are aimed at the post-1913 Land Act and the apartheid-era forced removals matters,” Nyhontso said

“This is unjust and false, and it limits an historical colonial theft of land and dehumanising pieces of legislation aimed at the indigenous people, thereby leaving a festering settler-colonialism matter to be scrutinised unfairly in the courts.”

He suggested that the proposed scrapping of section 25 should be put “before a plebiscite for the people to approve or reject”. 

He stressed, however, that the party did not support the expropriation without compensation. “We are not there,” he said.

The PAC has already prepared a departmental strategy for the GNU to consider within the context of land dispossession, to show the system has resulted in vast inequalities in land ownership and rural development.

“Addressing these issues is critical to achieving social justice, economic growth, and sustainable development,” he said.

The strategy “will outline a comprehensive approach to land reform and rural development aimed at land restoration and redistribution, enhancing economic and agricultural productivity and improving the quality of life in rural areas”.  

He said it is a misconception that the PAC has a “willy-nilly” approach to the question of supporting land expropriation without compensation.

“Our approach is different and broader. We are comprehensively addressing issues of social justice and economic growth. We are not playing to the gallery for populist sake.

“We are not in the EFF camp; we think much broader than the catchphrases that go about being propagated such as expropriation of property without compensation.

“We want to set out policies aimed at reviewing the land policy for accelerated land acquisition and restoration processes, ensuring fairness and transparency.”

He said a plebiscite would enable communities to be involved in how the land question should be addressed. “Let them be heard, speaking for themselves on what form of clause they want inserted in the Constitution to replace the imposition of section 25.

“Also, the national dialogue which is to be convened by the President, we hope will be allowed to ventilate how the land question must be addressed.”

PAC leader Mzwanele Nyhontso says the party is not fixated on land expropriation without compensation. (Photo: Papi Morake / Gallo Images)

Vexing issue

PAC values

Pan Africanist Congress founder Robert Sobukwe in 1978. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sowetan)