Kganki Matabane from the Black Business Council (BBC) has expressed his support for the decision of the African National Congress (ANC) to amend Section 25 of the Constitution.

What is the Black Business Council (BBC)?

The BBC is an organisation that represents the interests of black professional, business associations and chambers.

The organisation works with the government in finding ways to accelerate the inclusion of black businesses in the mainstream economy.

Organisations like the BBC rely on the policies of government to enact their processes of injecting more black businesses into the commercial environment with the major players.

BBC welcomes the decision of the ANC?

Kganki used terms like “bold” to describe the decision the ANC has taken to amend the constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.

He added that

“It’s 24 years into democracy but the majority of the people are still marginalised and still don’t own land. So we think the decision will fast-track the position of the marginalised to play a meaningful role in the economy.”

Section 25 of South Africa’s constitution

Section 25, titled Property, starts off with the following:

“No one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application, and no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property.”

The ANC has announced that it will begin the process of amending the part of the section that speaks about the compensation of land without expropriation.

This means that, at some point, it may be that the government will enact a process where black people (one can only speculate what this will be based on) receive land without having to pay for it.

ANC and EFF to find a resolution in such a delicate matter

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) are the key opposition that has been instrumental in getting this far with the land reform debate.

However, where the two parties clash is in who would actually own the land. The EFF wants the land to be nationalised – that is, to be owned by the state.

The ANC considers giving the land to the people. These differing views may or may not play a crucial role in this matter going forward.