LETTER: Of chiefs and Indians

In the article, "May backs approach to land reform" (August 29), President Cyril Ramaphosa is quoted as saying "…land reform will not be a smash and grab" and "we can assure you that we are as responsible as we were when we solved the apartheid nightmare".

However, there is another article on the page, "Invaders claim they bought farms from KZN headman", which details how private land on the north coast legally owned by Indian farmers is being sold off by local indunas.

There was also a recent report about a bill before the House of Traditional Leaders that removes the right of any person living in a traditional authority to opt out and have a dispute heard by a magistrate.

There can be no clearer indication that SA is moving backwards in time from a constitutional democracy to the proverbial banana republic. No matter how politicians couch their language, it is obvious that people who feel entitled to land will interpret any mention of land expropriation as a green light for illegal invasion.

The ANC will watch cynically, knowing full well it dare not act as they rely on the support of rural dwellers and their chiefs. The law will be sacrificed on the high altar of political expediency.

It seems the Guptas have been replaced with an army of smaller crooks hiding behind their exalted titles of headman, chief and induna, ready and willing to exploit the poor and dispossessed.

Bernard Benson, Parklands