Parliament's Constitutional Review Committee have kicked off their provincial tour on public hearings in the Northern Cape, which is looking into amending Section 25 of the Constitution, that deals with expropriation of land without compensation.
EFF STATEMENT ON THE 63RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE FREEDOM CHARTER
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) marks the 63rd anniversary of the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955.
This is a day that remains important to remind ourselves of its significance, as our people remain dispossessed and denied of economic freedom.
The EFF has always used the Freedom Charter as a guiding document which finds relevance in the struggle for Economic Freedom today. We call on South Africans to note as Parliament embarks on the process of public hearings to determine whether or not to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to Expropriate Land Without Compensation, it was also by going to the people and talking to them, that the Freedom Charter was drafted.
On the 26th of June 1955 South African people made it clear that, “The People Shall Share in the Country's Wealth”, “The Land Shall be Shared Among Those Who Work It”, and “All shall have the right to occupy land wherever they choose”. Our demand for Section 25 of the Constitution is informed by what our people said then, and what our people are saying now.
The ANC has abandoned the Freedom Charter and are silencing the people who were a part of drafting this important document of our history. Years after our first democratic elections the land and wealth of our country remain in the hands of the minority, with no substantive change in comparison to when the freedom charter was first adopted 63 years ago.
Our people continue to be prevented from occupying the land. The ongoing violence that women face at the hands of men and from their exclusion in the economy, should remind us that Economic Freedom can never be achieved without economic freedom for women, and that when we redistribute the land, it is black women who must be prioritised.
As we fight for the amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution for Expropriation of Land Without Compensation, and as we continue with the broader struggle for Economic Freedom in our Lifetime, we do so informed by the principles of the Freedom Charter. The EFF remains inspired by the generation who drafted the Freedom Charter, we pick-up from where those before us left off in the struggle for our land, and the realisation of Economic Freedom in Our Lifetime.
ANC STATEMENT ON THE 63RD ANNIVERSARY OF THE FREEDOM CHARTER
THE FREEDOM CHARTER CONTINUES TO GUIDE US
The African National Congress celebrates with pride the 63rd anniversary of the historic congress of the people, when South Africans gathered at Kliptown to shape the vision of the South Africa they want.
A unique gathering: 25-26 June 1955
The 25th and 26th of June 1955 was the culmination of a campaign that saw volunteers, including Nelson Mandela and Albertina Sisulu, covering the length and breadth of the country to collect demands from our people. The volunteers went to farms and mine compounds, to reserves, villages and townships. The demands were collected on scraps of paper and eventually consolidated into the document presented to the people.
The apartheid government knew that this campaign by the ANC and others of the Congress Alliance, the South African Council of Trade Union (SACTU), the Congress of Democrats, the Coloured People Organisation, the Federation of South African Women and the South African Indian Congress would deal a decisive blow to its own grand apartheid ideal of racial segregation and oppression.
It arrested those who campaigned, who wanted to attend the Congress of the People and banned others. Before and during the event, it surrounded the field of Kliptown with police and the army. After the trial 156 leaders of the Congress Alliance, men and women, black and white, were arrested for High Treason, in what became the longest treason trial in the history of our country.
Nkosi Albert Luthuli, South Africa’s first Nobel Peace Laurette described why this event was so unique when he said: "It will be the first time in the history of our multi-racial nation that its people from all walks of life will meet as equals, irrespective of race, colour and creed, to formulate a Freedom Charter for all people in the country." This idea of an all-inclusive convention was first proposed by Professor ZK Matthews at the Cape Congress in 1953, 'to draw up a Freedom Charter for the democratic South Africa of the future'.
The Freedom Charter was discussed and adopted at Kliptown by the over three thousand delegates, including amongst their ranks, according to the SA History online, "were workers, peasants, intellectuals, women, youth and students of all races and colours". Afterwards, the African National Congress and the other members of the Congress Alliance adopted the Freedom Charter as their policy platforms.
We are therefore proud that UNESCO has declared two of the original copies of the Freedom Charter from 1955, as part of the heritage of all humanity. The ANC congratulates the Department of Arts and Culture and the South African government for making this happen.
A vision of the South Africa we want
The Freedom Charter declared unequivocally in its preamble that "South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of the people".
This remained the foundation of the struggle against apartheid and forms the foundation of the Constitution of a democratic South Africa.The Freedom Charter pays attention to many aspects of the society we seek to build, with its clauses talking about national unity and diversity, about land, about women’s emancipation, about the economy, education, human rights, the right to work, about housing and security, and indeed about the world we want and South Africa’s place in that world.
The relevance of the Freedom Charter today therefore remains undisputed
As the African National Congress yesterday gathered with civil society and others in a Consultative workshop on its Election Manifesto, it was mindful of this historical mission. This included the Manifesto workshop's discussion on the land that must be shared amongst those who work it, as the Parliamentary Review Commission starts its work today.
It shaped the Manifesto’s workshop discussion on economic transformation, as it sought to examine how we will ensure that after 25 years of democracy, the wealth can be shared amongst all the people, and that in the context of ANC’s policy on full employment, we can work together for work and security for all, especially for young men and women, and for equal pay for equal work.The delegates to the workshop recalled the commitment of the Freedom Charter to the promotion of culture and the exchange of ideas. And it delved into what needs to be done to ensure that the doors of learning and culture are opened to all South Africans, irrespective of class, gender or race.Indeed, the Manifesto workshop renewed the commitment made by delegates of 1955, when they said: "these freedoms we shall fight for, side by side, throughout our lives, until we have won our liberty".
FREEDOM CHARTER REMAINS A CALL TO ACTION
The African National Congress calls on government to redouble its efforts towards realising the wishes of our people as guided by their articulations in the Freedom Charter. Our country and its people must hold us accountable against the realisation of what they said 63 years ago. We must also, as stated in this historic document, ensure that our government is truly a people’s government!
MAP: See location of land hearings near you
Parliament's Constitutional Review Committee - which is looking into amending Section 25 of the Constitution, that deals with expropriation of land without compensation - starts its provincial tour to hold public hearings on the subject this week.
From June 26 to August 4, the committee will - in two teams - travel to the nine provinces, where they will hold at least three meetings per province in different towns.
Delia Hosken tells the Constitutional Review Committee their land was taken during colonialism.
"I'm not talking about the white man, because the Guptas also came." Some cheers from people in hall in Concordia.
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"Baie dankie, voorsitter," (Thank you, chairperson) says EFF's Floyd Shivambu.
He said they came to Namaqualand to hear what its people say, not people from Pretoria like AfriForum's Ernst Roets. Organisations like AfriForum can present to Parliament.
Loud cheers.
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The Land: South Africa speaks - first public hearing on expropriation to commence
Written submissions on land expropriation without compensation are done and dusted, and now South Africans have their turn to speak.
The Constitutional Review Committee's first of 36 public hearings are set to commence on Tuesday at 11:00 in Concordia, Springbok in the Northern Cape.
In the next few weeks, members of the committee will crisscross the country to have several hearings in every province.
The hearings coincide with the 63rd anniversary of the Freedom Charter, adopted in 1955.
Here is everything you need to know about the public hearings on land expropriation
Parliament's constitutional review committee will on Tuesday begin nationwide public consultations on whether Section 25 of the constitution, which deals with property rights, needs to be amended to allow the state to expropriate land without compensation.
The committee, split into two teams, will begin in Northern Cape and Limpopo, where it will hold four public meetings in each province until the end of the month.
The teams will then visit the remaining provinces until the first week in August.
Land: Key facts ahead of Parliament's public hearings tour
President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed to "accelerate" land reform to fix the "grave historical injustices" suffered by the black majority during apartheid and colonialism ahead of elections expected next year.
Parliament's Constitutional Review Committee will embark on a tour of all nine provinces to get input from the general public from June 26.
Here are the key facts of the contentious land issue:
Parliament receives over 700 000 written submissions on land expropriation
The Joint Constitutional Review Committee, established to review section 25 of the Constitution - which speaks to the right of property ownership - has received over 700 000 written submissions.
The committee, which was mandated by the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, called for written public submissions on the review of section 25 of the Constitution and other sections where necessary, to make it possible for the state to expropriate land in the public interest without compensation.
Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said the committee had received more than 700 000 electronic and hard copy submission forms from the public by the closing date of June 15.
Land expropriation: Here's when Parliament's public hearings will be held in your province
Parliament's Constitutional Review Committee - which is looking into amending Section 25 of the Constitution, that deals with expropriation of land without compensation - will embark on a provincial tour to hold public hearings on the subject from next month.
From June 26 to August 4, the committee will - in two teams - travel to the nine provinces, where they will hold at least three meetings per province in different venues.
Parliament goes into recess from June 15 for two months, and will only return in mid-August.
The breakdown of the tour by province is: