Friday, January 12, 2007

Land reform set to be hot potato in 2007

Land reform will be at the forefront of political battles this year, as impatience with the slow pace of the government’s programme sets in.

Landless people are beginning to act to solve their own problems and an increasing number are saying they had “nothing to lose”, an expert has warned.

A lack of national leadership on the issue, especially of urban land reform, had placed the onus on local government to resolve issues, another said.

This week’s call by Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich that residents of Hout Bay’s informal settlements should stake their claims and “grab” unused land owned by the wealthy comes hot on the heels of a foiled Free State farm attack and a recent murder of a farm manager in KwaZulu-Natal…

Ruth Hall, researcher for the programme of Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape at Plaas, said calls for the government to take a stronger stand on urban and rural land seemed to be growing.

Mercia Andrews of the Trust for Community Outreach and Education said rural poverty was continuing to deepen and people would try to find their own solutions. Cape Argus

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