Expropriating land is ‘vital’ for economy – Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa.

He said government was committed to the acceleration of land reforms as it is essential for the transformation of society.

President Cyril Ramaphosa said the recommendations on land reform was necessary to address the plight of the landlessness, boost the economy, create jobs and reduce poverty in the rural areas.

In the National Assembly yesterday the Cabinet was determined to shortly finalise its consideration of the recommendations on land reform for the process to proceed at a faster rate.

He said government was committed to the acceleration of land reforms as it is essential for the transformation of society.

“The advisory panel has produced several far-reaching recommendations to ensure that we correct the skewed distribution of land in the country, a necessary precondition to our objective of reducing inequality in our country, and the Cabinet still needs to finalise its deliberations on the findings and recommendations of the panel,” Ramaphosa said.

The panel found that the mechanism of land expropriation without compensation was one of a range of methods that could be used to acquire land for land reform, he said.

He called on government to immediately identify well-located and unused or under-utilised land and buildings for the purposes of urban settlement, and to prioritise poor tenants for upgrading their rights.

Ramaphosa was “confident” Africa has the potential to grow its economy and said South Africa was well-placed to make use of the opportunities a free trade area could provide.

“The economies of the African continent are growing at a rate far greater than our own and we need to see the opportunity that such growth presents. On the economic front, we acknowledge that while the economy is driven largely by international demand, growth over the last decade can be disproportionately attributed to the expansion in capital-intensive industries, retail trade, and financial services,” Ramaphosa said.