Last week the FF Plus addressed an official parliamentary question to the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, regarding the list of 139 farms that the government aims to expropriate in order to test Section 25 of the Constitution with regard to expropriation without compensation.
Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus, says that he is calling on the Minister to make the list public as soon as possible so that the landowners who will be affected by the expropriation can get clarity.
The list that was leaked and subsequently made public by AfriForum is causing the land owners whose names appear on the list great anxiety, confusion and alarm.
Dr Groenewald says that it is, therefore, of the utmost importance that the official list must be made available so that farmers can get clarity as the situation could affect their production plans as well. Farmers simply cannot be expected to incur great production costs if there is a possibility that they might lose everything.
This is in direct contrast with President Cyril Ramaphosa's statement that expropriation without compensation will not jeopardise food security. For the sake of food security, the official list must be made public at once.
Dr Groenewald is requesting the people to wait for the official list from the Department and not to get upset and go into panic.
According to reports, officials from the Department said that the farms in question are only the farms that the government had already made an offer on, but the land owners rejected the offer. The land owners who had been given an offer and refused it, will know who they are.
In the meantime, it is only fair to land owners to give them clarity on the matter so that they can take the necessary steps if their farms are indeed on the official list.
The FF Plus will put pressure on the Department to ensure that the official list is released as soon as possible.
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