Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza

from ANNA NTABANE in Mbombela, Mpumalanga
MBOMBELA – LAND reforms will bring dignity to the majority black South Africans, the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Thoko Didiza, has said.

She was speaking at a land reform debate at the University of Mpumalanga in Mbombela on Friday.

Hundreds of youth gathered at the facility.

“Over the years, the land question has been at the centre of dealing with bringing back the dignity to the people,” said the minister.

She nonetheless said the report of the advisory panel on land reform and agriculture had not focused on the contribution of land reform to special integration

“These are the matters which the land report says must be addressed,” she concluded.

Didiza has been on record encouraging all South Africans to be openly discussing the land question.

She also believes that institutions of higher learning have an important role to play in shaping the discussions around the land issue.

The land debate in South Africa continues 25 years after independence.

Progress has been marginal despite the provision in Section 25 of the Constitution that allows the state to undertake land reform based on the Land Restitution Act (1994).

Other statues have been passed since the advent of democracy.

– CAJ News