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Land Green Paper

ANC Press Statement
Friday 2 February 1996

The African National Congress welcomes the publication of the Department of Land Affairs' Green Paper on Land Policy.

The sensitivity of land issues derives from our long history of dispossession and conquest. The legacy of this links land questions closely to the achievement of national reconciliation and stability.

In this context the publication of the Green Paper on Land Policy is a welcome statement of the concrete ways in which the Government of National Unity intends to resolve the many complex land problems in our country. It is also a document that takes forward the commitment of the RDP document to a far-reaching and substantial land reform programme.

The three key programmes described in the Green Paper - redistribution, restitution and tenure reform - go to the heart of addressing the land needs of our people.

The ANC supports the land distribution programme's poverty focus, as well as its commitment to support women and aspirant entrepreneurs to gain access to land. Similarly, the recognition that within the restitution programme steps should be taken to address the situation of those who were dispossessed prior to the 1913 cut-off date and those who fall outside the Restitution Act is welcome.

The approach to tenure reform that stresses the need for recognition and acceptance of diverse tenure arrangements within a unitary registry system will bring welcome relieve to millions of people living in conditions of tenure insecurity.

Finally, the recognition of the need for speedy land release in both urban and rural areas as a means of achieving a lasting solution to the serious instability caused by land invasions is most welcome.

Issued by: ANC DIP
PO Box 61884
Marshalltown 2107
2 February 1996

The Land Green Paper is available from http://www.polity.org.za/govdocs/green_papers