The Democratic Alliance has called for Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza to explain chief land claims commissioner Tozi Gwanya’s statement that the government is considering a six-month extension for land claims in the Eastern Cape.
The DA said on Friday that such an extension cannot be granted without new legislation, because current land restitution laws say that the time for such windows has already closed.
”It would also be highly problematic to single out one province for special treatment. People in other provinces who had missed out on the deadline would definitely have grounds to challenge the constitutionality of such a move,” the party said in a statement.
”If two million people in the Eastern Cape lost out because of bureaucratic bungling on the part of the government, then the government has a case to answer, and these people should be encouraged to claim against the state for its maladministration,” the party suggested. — Sapa