Thank you, Chairperson. That is typical of the hon Mazibuko - we listened when she was speaking, but she doesn't want to listen! The heart was ripped out of the city - so says the District Six Beneficiary Trust, which describes Cape Town as one of the most polarised and disintegrated cities in the Republic, if not the world.
Another local example is a community living in Tramway Road in Sea Point. They were forced to move because they were the wrong colour, with devastating results. One of the ex-residents recalls how his father committed suicide on receiving the eviction letter. In this case restitution has been awarded in the form of an education trust to benefit the children of the descendants. And last week Minister Nkwinti presided at a sod-turning ceremony to mark the start of a new housing project in the area.
These are examples from Cape Town. There are hundreds more in the rest of the country. The point we are making here is that the hurt and damage caused by apartheid is still with us, and this national democratic revolution of ours will not be complete until the land question has been addressed. So, even as we work our way through the complex minefield of restitution claims, we also have to address the call for fundamental land reform and the Freedom Charter's demand that "The land shall be shared among those who work it!"
Minister Nkwinti has shared with us the challenges that face the land restitution programme: the complexities of dealing with competing interests, and claims which often require careful research, facilitation and mediation, together with a lack of capacity. With courage and integrity, the Minister has met with thousands of claimants and beneficiaries to hear of their experiences and to engage with them on how to take the process forward. In all humility he has apologised for the delays in the process, because the African people are peaceful. He was able to say, "I am sorry." However, some other people have never said that, despite the hurt they have caused. [Interjections.]
From our side, systems are now in place to fast-track claims. But the challenge of inadequate resources remains. I am particularly concerned at the implications of recent court decisions which call for compensation for old order mineral and land rights. There appears to be a tension at the heart of our Constitution. Whilst it recognises and seeks to promote the rights of the dispossessed, it simultaneously effectively entrenches the rights of vested and landed interests.
I was struck by the words of hon Stella Ndabeni last week in a previous debate, when she quoted a learned judge. She said:
Whom would the proposed Bill of Rights protect; the victims of the unjust conduct, which has been condemned as a crime against humanity by all humankind, or the beneficiaries? I leave it to you to answer.
The Opposition will say that I am dwelling on the past. I know that it's uncomfortable for them when I'm dwelling on the past, and can understand why they would want to forget the past. But the truth is that the past is very much with us. Daily we battle to balance the rights of the dispossessed with those of the landowners.
I believe that strategically - as a minimum, and as part of the broad strategy for rural development - together with sister departments, we need to facilitate a number of issues, such as the following: securing the position of farmworkers and farm dwellers against evictions and improving their lives; revitalising subsistence agriculture in the former reserves; and rapidly promoting black commercial agriculture, whilst mindful that the white commercial agriculture will continue to play a crucial role in ensuring food security.
So, how do we achieve these goals? Firstly, it is not enough to acknowledge shortcomings. We also need to learn from past mistakes. Many of the farms transferred to black ownership failed. This should not have come as a surprise. Apartheid did two things: it dumped millions of black people in the countryside - those superfluous to the labour needs of the urban economy - and simultaneously denied them any meaningful access to productive agricultural land. Even basic subsistence agriculture declined. Then, when we gave people land after 1994, without providing adequate follow-up training, credit and other support, we were setting people up for failure.
Going forward, all restitution and land reform projects are now accompanied by a viable business plan, which includes training, mentorship, partnerships and other forms of support. All this is guided by the three principles of land reform enunciated by the Minister.
As government, then, our task is twofold. It is to restore the land to the people, and this is a political and moral imperative to us, but at the same time to restore to the people a practical knowledge of the land, which is an economic and developmental necessity. We are not going to be apologetic about it. This reflects a crucial shift from the approach of hand-outs and social grants to a productive model of development, which stresses empowering and skilling the people to create their own employment opportunities.
Even as we seek to restore the land to the people, as government we also need to guard against the danger that South African prime land - relatively cheap by international standards - is snapped up by foreign buyers. This has negative implications, including the following: inflation of land prices; alienation of sensitive land, with adverse security and environmental implications; and undesirable land use changes, as prime agricultural land is converted into game farms and golf estates. This is already happening in the Western and Eastern Cape. These issues will be addressed, I believe, in the forthcoming Green Papers.
Vested interests and those in real estate industries, who reject any form of regulation that reduces their profits, will not be allowed to prevail in this matter. We also need to make it very clear that these measures are in no way motivated by antiforeigner sentiment. The government will continue to encourage foreign investment in the land where this is consistent with national interests. Let me cite the case of Australia where legislation seeks to control foreign purchase of existing real estate, whilst encouraging investment in building new housing, thus benefiting the local building industry.
Let me end by pointing to some of the positives, which augur well for the future.
In interacting with the District Six Beneficiary Trust I have been inspired by their philosophy of restorative justice and their inclusive vision for restitution. They say, and I quote:
Never again will there be forced removals in our country. So we will not ask for the people and institutions who stole our land to be forcibly removed from there. Rather, when we restore the justice that is due to the victims of apartheid in District Six, we shall hold the perpetrators of that crime accountable, not as criminals from whom we wish to extract revenge, but as partners who can contribute to making our nation as a whole and vibrant again.
They are saying this because black people are peaceful and are not like others.
Let me add that the Trust's vision for the restored District Six goes way beyond the previous owners, mostly the so-called coloureds, to include tenants and members of the black community who were removed from District Six as early as 1901. The Trust's objective is to re-establish an inclusive and vibrant community here in the heart of Cape Town, reflecting all races and classes. We have now put together a team including all relevant role- players to take the District Six project forward. I believe it will be seminal in challenging apartheid's spatial planning and providing a model for a truly nonracial and pro-working-class town.
I am looking forward to working with the Premier of the Western Cape in this regard, because the two of us have been given that task by the Minister. Just for your information, when we were ready to hold the meetings, it was this very same Western Cape Premier who requested ... [Interjections.] Very interesting. Very interesting. They do not even want to listen to the Chairperson.