Pan Africanist Congress founder Robert Sobukwe in 1978. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sowetan)
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
The vexing issue of land dispossession has come before Parliament in various guises since democracy. After a three year-process before an ad hoc committee on proposed amendments to section 25 of the Constitution, the ANC failed to obtain a two-thirds majority to pass the motion in 2021. The 18th amendment would have allowed expropriation of land without compensation.
Section 25(1)(2) of the Constitution states that no one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application, and that no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property, and that property expropriated may only be done for public purpose or interest, and that if it happens it must be subject to compensation.
But the courts have still not fully clarified or interpreted what the “general application” in terms of expropriation disputes might mean or entail.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Expropriation without compensation – It’s all about the politics
The Expropriation Bill, adopted by the National Assembly in September 2023, enables “nil compensation” to be considered in some cases, such as abandoned land, state land or land held for speculative purposes.
Read more in Daily Maverick: Controversial Expropriation Bill is finally approved after navigating a 14-year rocky road
Nyhontso pointed out that “the PAC in Parliament did not vote for the Expropriation Bill”.
“It is common cause that where the state needs land in the hands of private individuals, there will be a need to expropriate, especially if it is in the national interest.
“But it will be unfair to do so without compensation. This applies even to the land under the purview of a traditional leader, that is, the historical 13% of the Bantustan system.
“The PAC was not happy with the interpretation of the Bill, as if it were a panacea to resolve the land question.”
Nyhontso said the expression “expropriation without compensation” needed to be qualified.
“Expropriation of property should be based on the imperative of national interest, or where the need to use a particular land is stronger and greater, based on the interest of the community. Expropriation should be used for the common good.
“The PAC is unwilling to recognise expropriation of land without compensation. If expropriation takes place under these circumstances, the owners will be within their rights to fight for compensation in the courts. The courts will then use arbitration processes to resolve these matters. This is the weakness the PAC sees in expropriation without compensation.”
PAC values
Pan Africanist Congress founder Robert Sobukwe in 1978. (Photo: Gallo Images / Sowetan)
Nyhontso said the party was certain that its founder, Robert Sobukwe, “is all smiles in his heavenly realm following the appointment to the Cabinet of national government of unity of one of his own progeny”.
The newly formed PAC of 1959 under Sobukwe rejected the ANC’s multiracial worldview, agitating instead for pan-Africanism.
But, notwithstanding “historical differences” on the land question, the PAC and ANC negotiators had “discussed the GNU route with an open mind”, Nyhontso said, adding that it would be a great victory for the GNU, if portfolio committees became more robust to build a viable democratic system, in which Parliament did not become the lapdog of the executive council.
“We are pleased [that] a national dialogue, as proposed by Ramaphosa, will involve civil society to shape the future of our country.”
The PAC considered the GNU to be “above party-political interests”, as the country needed “visionary leadership which transcends tribal, ethnic and racist lenses”.
The party had joined the GNU despite criticism “by some of the colleagues who hurled insults of all kinds”, so that it could tackle joblessness and poverty.
He said that, as a new Cabinet minister, it was “an honour to serve one’s country”. Since it was now “in the mainstream”, the PAC would be ready for the 2026 local government elections and the general elections in 2029.
Ramaphosa’s Cabinet will meet in Pretoria this weekend for its first lekgotla after ministers were sworn in last week. DM