‘No more forced land removals in SA’ – Ramaphosa

SOUTH AFRICA – President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured South Africans that forced removals from land, will never happen again. The comment comes amid ongoing tensions over the newly signed Expropriation Act. He was speaking in his reply to the State of the Nation Address (SONA) debate on Thursday. Ramaphosa addressed what he called “distortions and misinterpretations” of the law.

The contentious bill has sparked fierce debate since its signing earlier this month. Opposition parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), Freedom Front Plus, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP), and lobby group AfriForum, have vowed to challenge it in court. The DA’s Federal Council Chairperson, Helen Zille, has already filed an application in the Western Cape High Court, to have the law nullified.

Ramaphosa reiterated that forced removals, a painful legacy of apartheid, would never be allowed again in South Africa. “It is here that one of the most painful chapters in our history took place nearly 60 years ago. In 1968, the Apartheid regime demolished District Six to create a whites-only suburb.

More than 60,000 people were forcibly removed, tearing families apart and destroying an entire way of life,” he said. He reminded Parliament that between the 1950s and 1980s, over 3.5 million people were displaced from areas such as Sophiatown, Marabastad, Cato Manor, and Kroonstad.

Ramaphosa stressed that South Africa’s Constitution protects against the arbitrary deprivation of property. “That is why our Constitution requires just and equitable compensation in cases of expropriation for a public purpose or in the public interest,” he said.

He noted that while progress had been made in land restitution, much work remained. “Today, District Six once again rings with the sounds of families who have returned to the land taken from them, but like the transformation of our society, restitution is not yet complete,” he said.

Ramaphosa urged South Africans to reflect on the kind of nation they want to build. “Surely, we do not want a nation separated by race, language, income, and geography. We want a nation in which all people enjoy equal worth and opportunity, where the rule of law is protected and upheld,” said Ramaphosa.