- 18 Aug 2018 16:24
#14940518
Daily Mail wrote:South Africa 'draws up a list of almost 200 farms it will seize from white farmers' as ANC head says land should be taken from those with over 12,000 hectares WITHOUT compensation
Lobby group AfriForum claimed to have a list of 195 farms earmarked for seizure
But South Africa's government denied the claim saying the document was false
The rand fell after the ruling ANC's chair said owners should have land seized
South Africa's government has been accused of earmarking almost 200 farms for seizure from their white owners as the chair of the African National Congress said the state should take land from those who own more than 12,000 hectares.
The rand fell on financial markets after ANC chair Gwede Mantashe, an ally of President Cyril Ramaphosa, said this week that major landowners should have their land taken without compensation.
AfriForum, a lobby group which mainly represents white South Africans, claimed to have a list of 195 farms which the government was planning to seize.
But the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform denied the claim, saying there was 'no truth to this document', News 24 reported.
More than two decades after the end of apartheid, white people still own most of South Africa's land.
Ownership patterns remain highly emotive as the government has been slow to transfer land to the black majority after centuries of colonial and racial oppression.
The ANC's plans to amend the constitution to redistribute land have been interpreted negatively by some investors, who see them as undermining property rights.
The ruling party has sought to assuage those fears by saying that land reform will follow a parliamentary process.
'You shouldn't own more than 12,000 hectares of land and therefore if you own more, it should be taken without compensation,' ANC Chairman Gwede Mantashe, who is also the country's mines minister, told News24 in an interview published on Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear whether Mantashe's comments represented official ANC policy. Four key party officials did not answer their phones when called by Reuters for clarification.
Me, well I used to be known as Plaro....