The African People’s Convention (APC) has dismissed the newly signed Expropriation Act as a deceptive attempt to mislead the masses.
While opposition parties have criticised the law, the APC has laughed it off as a ruse to create an illusion of land reform.
APC leader Themba Godi argues that ANC policies entrench African subjugation rather than dismantling it.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the bill into law on January 23, claiming it aligns expropriation with the constitution.
The government insists that the law modernises land reform, allowing expropriation for public interest while ensuring fair compensation.
Symbolic law
“The ANC could not even pronounce the word ‘expropriation’ for 30 years,” Godi said in a statement.
“Now they pass a symbolic law meant to hoodwink people into believing the ANC cares.”
The bill, which repeals the apartheid-era Expropriation Act, sets legal guidelines for land expropriation in the public interest.
However, opposition parties have rejected the bill for different reasons.
The DA warns it could threaten property rights and scare away investors, while the EFF dismisses it as a meaningless compromise that fails to return stolen land.
Meanwhile, the APC rejects the act as hollow rhetoric, arguing that real land repossession remains elusive.
Godi said that ANC policies have allowed black people to remain squashed in small spaces, living as squatters and farm labourers.
Preaching Sobukwe’s message
The APC’s critique comes amid its commemoration of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe in February, whom the party hails as the gold standard for leadership and self-sacrifice.
Throughout February, Sobukwe Month, the party will host rallies and lectures across the country, promoting pan-Africanist and socialist alternatives to the ANC’s neoliberal policies.
“Sobukwe would have shunned this unholy ANC-DA alliance. He stood for the return of the land to its rightful owners, not deceptive laws,” Godi said.
The APC condemns what it terms “attempts to privatise state-owned enterprises such as Transnet, Prasa, and Eskom”, calling these policies a betrayal of Sobukwe’s socialist vision.
Instead, the party proposes nationalising land, creating state banks, and using agriculture and mining as industrial drivers.
“We must declare land the national inheritance of all, free from monetary transactions.
“The APC will continue preaching Sobukwe’s message in villages and urban areas, offering an alternative to sellout policies pursued since 1994.
“Our cause remains the total liberation of Africa. Anything less is a betrayal.”
