There will be no land grabs in SA, says Cyril Ramaphosa
The president says he will pursue ‘Madiba magic’ style dialogue for a peaceful resolution to the land issue
The government will not allow land reform to lead to the “degradation of the economy”, and is committed to finding a durable and sustainable solution for the problem, president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Thursday. “There will be no land grabs,” Ramaphosa said in a divergence from his prepared speech at the Discovery Leadership Summit in Sandton. Instead, he said, he wants to apply the same “Madiba magic” that led to the peaceful end of apartheid rule to solve the land crisis — by continuing discussions until an agreement can be reached that will “contribute to nation-building and social cohesion”. “Land reform is not only about correcting a great historical injustice; it is also an absolute economic necessity,” Ramaphosa said. “In the end I want to reconcile the hunger for land that our people have, but also reconcile the fears and concerns of those who have land.” More than 20 years after the first democratic election, SA remains a deeply unequal country where the black population, wh...
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