We will not let the ANC stop the people of Gwatyu from owning their land

25 April 2019

Today we are gathered outside the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in East London to send a clear message to the ANC government: the people of Gwatyu in the Eastern Cape are finished playing your games! They want rightful ownership of the land they’ve lived on for generations. I am joined by members of the Gwatyu Communal Property Association (CPA) who have led the valiant fight on behalf of over 1500 residents of Gwatyu that still do not own the land they rightfully should.

The people of Gwatyu have been in an endless battle with the ANC government for over two years seeking the transfer of ownership of the approximately 42 000 hectares - constituting 88 farms – from the government to the Gwatyu CPA. It appears the ANC government is hellbent on keeping these South Africans dependent on the state, rather than giving them ownership of the land they live on.

It cannot be that 25 years into democracy, many South Africans have yet to taste true freedom - including the freedom to own property, to prosper, and to create a better life for themselves and their loved ones. All we have been left with is empty promises from a party that has no offer for the people of South Africa.

The demands of the people are simple: the official registration of the Gwatyu CPA, the release of the land rights enquiry conducted by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and the transfer of land ownership rights to the people of Gwatyu.

Over a year ago, after hearing the plight of these South Africans, I personally visited the village of Gwatyu and committed to take this fight to Parliament and if need be, to the courts.

Following raising this matter in Parliament, the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, committed to me in writing on 19 June 2018 to deliver the land rights enquiry to the people Gwatyu by 28 October 2019. Almost six months later and Minister Nkoana-Mashabane has failed to honour her word.

The ANC government is waging a war of attrition against the people of Gwatyu, hoping they will give up on their fight. But they underestimate their resolve. The Gwatyu CPA unite around the creed of “nothing for us, about us, without us” and will not relent in this fight.

We have now ramped up our fight. The DA’s legal team has formally approached Minister Nkoana-Mashabane in writing requiring urgent answers to the following:

- What steps have been taken since receipt of the report into the much-anticipated land rights inquiry to arrange for a stakeholder meeting and presentation of the report;

- Who in the Ministers office is tasked with arranging this meeting;

- Who from the Gwatyu CPA is her office contacting to facilitate this meeting; and

- Provide a date that this urgent meeting will take place.

The Minister has a constitutional duty to prioritise this matter, and our legal team has given the Minister until the end of today, 25 April 2019, to respond. If the Minister fails, we will be left with no choice but to approach the courts.

The sad reality is that the 1500 members of the Gwatyu CPA remain in the same position they were in during Apartheid – tenants of the land they live on, and at the mercy of government. They have endured decades of empty promises and are no closer to owning their land now than they were twenty years ago.

The DA’s fight is to ensure more South Africans are owners of the land they live on. Title to land fosters ownership and economic empowerment. It puts people locked out of economic opportunity on the first rung of the asset accumulation ladder. It allows people to leverage this asset, to generate income, and to leave a real asset for their children after they pass away. It also restores the dignity of our people.

As long as the ANC are the gatekeepers of this land, this resilient community will keep on being excluded as economic outsiders by ANC insiders. The DA’s pledge to bring change that builds one nation with one future is a commitment to see justice done that registers the Gwatyu CPA, transfers land ownership to the CPA and puts a job in every home of the community.

The people of Gwatyu deserve so much better than another five years of empty ANC promises. Their struggle is our struggle, and we stand in solidarity with this community who have long been forgotten by the ANC.

Issued by Mmusi Maimane, Leader of the Democratic Alliance, 25 April 2019