Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma was being “disingenuous” when he said the government was dropping the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle in its land reform programme, DA Parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said on Thursday.
Speaking after the president's State of the Nation address, she said Zuma had been trying to “have his cake and eat it” on land reform and restitution.
Earlier, Zuma told MPs in the National Assembly that the government would drop the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle, which forced the state to pay more for land.
Instead, it would use the “just and equitable principle for compensation, as set out in the Constitution”.
Mazibuko said the two were identical.
“He said in the same breath we're going to abandon the willing-buyer, willing-seller principle, and we're committed to section 25 of the Constitution. But they're the same thing.”
Section 25 of the Constitution stated that if you could not agree on a price when expropriating land, a competent court had to decide the value of the land based on various factors, including its agricultural production and potential.
“That is willing-buyer, willing-seller. And so, he (Zuma) was basically playing to the gallery. It was highly disingenuous, because he was trying to have his cake and eat it.
“There was no need to say anything; the two things cancelled each other out,” she said. - Sapa