SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila has declared that South Africa’s efforts to fix the deep wounds of colonialism and apartheid are stuck – not for lack of ideas, but for lack of political will.
“Political will has failed. The people must now lead,” Mapaila told Sunday World this week following a meeting with the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (Contralesa), during which parties concluded that a referendum on land ownership transformation is long overdue.
Fed up with slow and ineffective government action, the SACP and Contralesa are joining forces to launch a bold national campaign – a “land ownership transformation referendum”. Their goal: to put the future of land reform directly in the hands of the people, bypassing gridlocked politicians and outdated policies.
“The unresolved land question has become a national crisis,” Mapaila said, “and the victims of colonisation and apartheid are the worst affected”.
He added, “Since the adoption of the Constitution in 1996, efforts at land restitution, redistribution and tenure security have failed to deliver meaningful transformation.”
He blamed South Africa’s stubborn inequality, poverty and joblessness on the failure to return land to its rightful owners. Since 1996, only 9.2-million hectares have changed hands, barely a drop in the ocean compared to the country’s sprawling 121-million hectares.
Mapaila lambasted the slow pace of reform, citing the 1913 Natives Land Act that reserved 87% of land for white ownership and left black South Africans with only 13%. “Descendants of colonialists still benefit from land acquired through bloodshed and unjust laws,” he said.
Mapaila directly challenged the “willing buyer, willing seller” principle that has governed land reform since 1996, saying its has become “a constraint”.
“The pace is dismal. At the current rate, it would take centuries, if ever, to reclaim what was dispossessed. The capitalist market actively reproduces the outcomes of apartheid and colonialism… It places land transformation beyond the reach of the majority by inflating prices and prioritising profit over justice.”
Adding insult to injury, Mapaila highlighted what he sees as a chronic lack of budgetary commitment. “The recent budget, presented to Parliament by the Minister of Finance… allocates pitiful sums to land ownership transformation. These resources are dwarfed by the rising cost of land, and they will never meet the demand unless something drastic is done.”
For Mapaila and his party, the solution is clear: if politicians lack the will to act, ordinary South Africans must take the lead. Describing the planned referendum as both “a tool of democracy” and “a weapon of liberation”, Mapaila rejected fears that a mass vote would lead to chaos. “This is not a call for chaos. It is a call for justice – peaceful, lawful, democratic justice, led by the will of the people.”
Mapaila issued a rallying cry: “We call upon all South Africans who believe in justice to rise. Join the campaign for a land ownership transformation referendum. This is our generational duty.”
