The land revolution is a necessary one, but South Africa is not going to go the way of Zimbabwe, African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) president Julius Malema said on Tuesday.
“We are not going to do it that way [like Zimbabwe]. We are going to pass legislation,” he told a “Mining for Change” conference in Sandton.
Malema said the state would make an offer to land owners, which they would be compelled to take.
“You don’t give us an offer … you are too expensive,” he said.
He said large parts of South Africa, in the Western Cape in particular, were in foreign hands.
“This country belongs to the people who live in it, black and white … it’s important as we move forward that we redistribute this land to the people of South Africa.”
In punting nationalisation of the South African mines, Malema said white men continued to get richer while black women, particularly rural women, continued to get poorer.
“If we don’t take a radical stance to intervene, rural women will never realise economic freedom in their lifetime.”
Black women in rural areas were also denied land — ownership of which plays a critical role in participating in the South African economy. — Sapa