Residents view Expropriation Bill as a tool to promote economic development for youth
24 April 2021
The Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure has concluded the first two public hearings on the Expropriation Bill in the North West Province yesterday with an overwhelming view that the Bill could be a tool to advance economic development especially for the youth of the province.
The committee which is on a countrywide public hearings drive, was told by a number of participants where it held public hearings in the province that the current challenge of the lack of access to land for economic activities by the majority of South Africans, was hindering skills development and inhibiting entrepreneurial spirit among young black South Africans in particular.
The Chairperson of the committee, Ms Nolitha Ntobongwana, said: “The view was that the Bill must be an enabler for access to land, not only for agricultural purpose, but for initiatives that will help in the fight against the triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality.”
The majority of participants in the past two legs of hearings in the North West Province have called upon the committee to ensure that the Bill is assented into an implementable piece of legislation and its implementation must be fast-tracked given the very long history of contradiction of the exclusion of the black majority from their land in South Africa by the brutal systems of colonialism and apartheid.