The scientific approach suggested by former president Thabo Mbeki for resolving the land question lacks sophistication. The current land debate is a proxy — the real problem is the racial composition of the economy. In 1994, the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) championed the land question, made it its election manifesto and coined the slogan “land first all shall follow”. This proved to be unpopular among the electorate, and the PAC got a hiding in the polls. While there may be other contributing factors, it is difficult not to consider its dismal failure to mobilise black South Africans around the land question and is an indication that there was no appetite for land among the black population. The way the issue was brought into the public discourse by the EFF was significant. Unlike the PAC, the EFF located it at the centre of the economic emancipation of black people. Therefore land expropriation without compensation was made to strengthen the radical posture of the EFF a...
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