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(STICKY) (MnG, SAPA) Malema: This land is ore land, this land is my land

COMMENT - Julius Malema is the future. He has justice, demographics, and economics on his side.

Malema: This land is ore land, this land is my land
HLENGIWE NHLABATHI PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - May 05 2011 18:08

Calling for SA to stop exporting raw minerals, ANCYL president Julius Malema has also outlined the league's plans for land expropriation and nationalisation of mines.

The government must stop exporting raw minerals to encourage the establishment of industries to process them locally, ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema said in Pretoria on Thursday.

"With greater state control and participation and ownership of mineral resources, our national budget will have the capacity to be increased and would take care of social responsibilities of the state," Malema told the National Press Club during a talk about the league's programme of action for economic freedom.

He said the problem was that minerals were exported in raw form, only to be imported in their processed state.

"We think we need to deal with that particular situation, we need to beneficiate resources in South Africa."

Consensus

Malema said the ANC's national general council (NGC) had developed greater consensus on the league's proposal of putting control of the country's mines in the hands of the state. A team was currently investigating the best model of nationalisation that would not plunge the economy into a disaster.

"Leave all the other things that others are saying. When we were going to NGC, they said nationalisation was not on the agenda although it was, and when (it) passed through they still said there were no talks on nationalisation."

Another item on the league's programme was land expropriation. The league wants all land, except residential, to belong to the state. This expropriation without compensation should be done with due consideration for laws and legislation.

"When they took over our land, those owning it today, they never gave anybody compensation. Therefore it will be incorrect to demand that they must get anything from us.

"We have not enough money to buy this land, and if we take the little money we have, we run the risk of failing very important service delivery issues like quality education, housing, sanitation, electricity and water.

"We are trying to address the problem created for us by the colonisers and therefore we cannot be persuaded otherwise because we feel very strongly about this and we need to reverse the crisis caused by colonisers."

Licence to till

Once the state had ownership of the land, Malema reasoned, those who wanted to use it would have to apply for licences, would not be granted leases longer than 30 years, and would have to explain how their use of it would benefit the people.

The government would provide those who intended using land for agriculture with the resources to ensure it remained productive.

He criticised the slow pace at which land was being handed back to blacks, saying only 5% was being transferred every 20 years.

"In 100 years we will have transferred 20%. I'm not prepared to be part of that failure. Hence this radical programme action and need for political will from leadership of ANC."

Malema questioned the government's tendering system, saying it had plunged the country into "political crisis".

Political crisis

"The state depends too much on the tendering system and this has created a political crisis."

Shoddy work was being provided by "corrupt companies, some of which are working with political leadership".

"Everything is outsourced, including cleaning and security services... we want a state that has capacity to deal with all those things." -- Sapa

Labels: INDIGENOUS DIAMOND BENEFICIATION STRATEGY, JULIUS MALEMA, LAND REFORM, NATIONALISATION

posted by MrK @ 12:34 AM