Land expropriation debate used to score political point
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OPINION | Dr Fani Ncapayi: Ingonyama Trust and Board hit hard by high court judgment
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Since it was published, the 2021 Budget has been called out as unconstitutional and austere from many corners. More than 200 social movements, civil society organisations, trade unions and individuals, in an open letter to members of Parliament, have endorsed a call for MPs to reject the Budget and send it back to the drawing board. The current Budget will cut public spending by R265-billion over the next three years in areas which directly affect human rights.
The signatories of the open letter represent 1.5 million people, according to Section27, one of the signatories.
The letter urges the members of Parliament to use their constitutional powers to send the Budget back to the executive. They should demand that it protects human rights and finds an alternative way of managing public debt, the letter states.
The Climate Justice Charter correctly calls for land redistribution and the transformation of South Africa’s food system. In contrast to this, most agricultural economists who advise government on its food policy regard this food system as sacrosanct. Yet it leaves the majority without the land on which to produce food for themselves, their communities and regions.
These same landless people are also often left without sufficient food and without sufficient income to buy adequate food for basic nutrition. Many others suffer from malnutrition. These basic facts underline how sick South Africa’s food system is.
Given how government is committed to serving the markets, it is not surprising that our country’s land and agrarian policy pays inadequate attention to food sovereignty, as it is based on the mistaken belief that only large-scale farmers can produce our food.