Zuma: BEE is not about hating white people
President
Jacob Zuma says the African National Congress (ANC) has not met the land restitution
targets because the party
has been using the willing-buyer, willing-seller
method.
Zuma was responding to the debate on his State of the Nation Address in the National Assembly on Thursday. He said government has had to pay large amounts of money to acquire land due to the willing-buyer, willing-seller mechanism.
“The office of the valuer-general is assisting us to ensure we no longer pay amounts of money for land. The Land Expropriation Act will also assist in fast tracking land reform,” he said.
Zuma also responded to Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Groenewald, who implied during the debate that the president has something against white people.
“Black Economic Empowerment and Affirmative Action, do not demonstrate hatred towards white people. They are aimed at ensuring the achievement of true reconciliation of true in the country based on the constitution.”
Zuma added that white people need to be part of the reconciliation process, as this will assist in achieving a truly non-racial South Africa.
“Honourable member, it would be wise to remove yourself from the tendency of associating discussions about land and land-owners to hatred. Massive stretches of land are owned by a few and we need to correct this,” Zuma told Groenewald.
Edited by Marius van der Walt