Although Shamla Pather and Judy Parker (POST, February 5-9) attempt to clarify the Expropriation Act, like all the other mainstream media commentators they fail to project their statements through the lens of the Freedom Charter.
The ANC is wedded to that Charter in which the thread of state control of all aspects of life and resources is very clear: water, minerals, education, health, welfare, housing, land, and wealth. While much is made of the mechanisms of mediation, consultation, negotiation and court adjudication within the Expropriation Act, the pathway to realisation of the Freedom Charter’s objective is contained in the words “for a public purpose or in the public interest.”
The justification to expropriate land hinges on those words – regardless of all the legal hoops and hurdles.
Bearing in mind that the objectives of the Freedom Charter are premised on the “will of the people,” it would be very easy for the ANC and its fellow travellers to mobilise the masses so as to manufacture ” public interest” in the expropriation of property. After all, the Freedom Charter emphasises ‘”democratic rights.” Given the pathetic state of the police and the fact that we need never fear a military coup from the run-down state of the SANDF, the prospects of the SAP and SANDF resisting the militant masses are bleak. Besides, as Shamla Pather states, the whole process “is conditional upon our legal justice system upholding the sections in the Act.” It should also be borne in mind that besides section 25 of the constitution, there is much in it that the ANC would like to revise while the hard Left would prefer to suspend it permanently.
Promoting the situation is the fact that the land card is the only political bait left for the ANC to play in order to survive politically. Failure to do so would mean the ascendance to power of the hard Left dominated by the MKP. Since municipal elections are due at the end of 2026 and with the ANC’s political stocks in jeopardy, that may be the occasion to press the “public interest” button in expropriating property.
The current flurry of media debates, opinions and reports, nonetheless, serves a useful purpose for the ANC and its ilk because it deflects attention away from the objectives of the Freedom Charter. Encouraging passionate intensity among detractors and followers fosters useful assets – confusion and complacency.
However, there is one obstacle on the road to that point: economic pressure by the US could hurt the country to the point that public outrage against the ANC galvanises a new and sensible political direction.
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