ANC: No need to panic over land expropriation
The African National Congress (ANC) has reiterated that there is no need to panic over plans to amend the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation.
The governing party says any policy on land reform will be designed not to undermine the economy or negatively affect food production.
Speaking at Luthuli House, deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte dismissed comparisons with Zimbabwe's disastrous land reform programme.
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"The panic is in fact being stimulated by some people including our good friends who are going overseas to talk about SA being another Zimbabwe. That is absolute nonsense," Duarte said. "What is going to happen is that there is a land use plan in the making, and the question of land redistribution cannot be an ANC decision only, it has to be a national decision."
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Parliament has passed a motion to review Section 25 of the Constitution, which would allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.
Two-hundred-and-forty-one members voted for the motion earlier this week while 83 voted against it.
The initial motion was brought before Parliament by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and was subsequently amended by the ANC.