Cape Town - The ANC in the province has accused the president of the Cape Chamber of Commerce Industry Janine Myburgh of scaremongering and spreading false information on the proposed amendment to the Upgrading of Land Tenure Rights Act (Ultra).
The Ultra Bill intends to amend the 1991 act to, among other things, provide for the application for the conversion of land tenure rights to ownership.
Myburgh said at the weekend: “The proposed amendment to the Ultra is a clear attempt to bamboozle the homeless out of their ability to own property. If passed, it will inevitably trigger a Constitutional Court challenge.
“In plain language, the amendment sets out to prevent the poor from gaining private freehold title to land, offering instead a government permit to occupy it.
“Joined with the determination to allow expropriation without compensation of private land for social housing, it will put those who might benefit at the mercy of the state. They will never hold a title deed. Their homes will not be castles. They will be serfs’ cottages, no matter how much brick and mortar they invest in them.
“Nothing in this new law is an improvement. It will take land occupation back to the Middle Ages when the right to a piece of land was subject to regularly kissing the feet of the local aristocrat.”
However, ANC provincial spokesperson for Agriculture Pat Marran said: “Myburgh is spreading fake information and raising a false alarm. She uses the same DA scaremongering tactics and is causing unnecessary panic.
“The aims of the bill are clearly stipulated and we encourage the public and farm dwellers and workers to support it. The bill aims to among other things provide for the institution of inquiries to assist in the determination of land tenure rights; to provide for an application to a court by an aggrieved person for appropriate relief; to provide for the recognition of conversions that took effect in good faith in the past and to provide for matters connected therewith.
“The national government’s resolve to accelerate land reform must be supported. The chamber of commerce must support government efforts by pushing for better working conditions of farm workers and pushing for the transformation of the agricultural economy in the Western Cape.”
Cape Argus