Covid-19 pandemic must be used to expedite the Expropriation Bill
8 May 2021
Gauteng’s Orange Farm residents believe that the Covid-19 pandemic must be used to expedite the implementation of the Expropriation Bill. This, they told Members of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure at its public hearing in Finetown, can result in residents getting access to faster public healthcare, a police station, better housing, jobs and other economic opportunities.
They informed the committee that many people have lost their houses or rented properties after losing their jobs due to the Covid-19 lockdown regulations. This, according to the residents, would not have happened if they had owned the land or title deeds to the properties.
However, some residents cautioned that rampant corruption had to be stopped or the expropriation exercise would go the route of Zimbabwe, where politicians and senior civil servants handed out land to friends and family members.
Foreigners, according to the residents, must not be allowed to purchase land as it is the entry point to economic activity. They also informed the committee that criminal activity in their areas mostly emanated from foreign-owned businesses and properties. Therefore, they call for foreigners not to own land. South Africans must be prioritised as the rightful owners of the land.