Afrikaans lobby group AfriForum’s deputy CEO Ernst Roets told the joint constitutional review committee that the biggest lie told in South Africa is that the land was stolen.

Roets called the ideology used to justify land expropriation without compensation a “historical fallacy”.

“It is regularly argued, especially in this house, that whites stole the land. This is the single biggest historical fallacy of our time,” Roets said.

According to Roets, white people had occupied land in the country by settling on vacant land, purchased land through treaties, cooperation and agreements, “and most controversial and least significant, by conquest”.

“Then, of course, there was legislation such as the native land act of 1913 and the group areas act of 1950. These injustices must be dealt with but they must be dealt with specifically and not used to construct grand false narratives or to advance new racist policies,” Roets told the committee.

.@ErnstRoets: Claiming that property rights would be eroded & that economic freedom would be compromised in a way that would enhance economic development = claiming that KFC would be expanded in a way that would ensure that chickens would prosper #ExpropriationWithoutCompensation — Monique Taute (@monique_taute) September 6, 2018

.@ErnstRoets: Of all the land claims to date, 59% were filed in urban areas. Of all the land grabs in recent years, 84% were in urban areas. South Africans, but black South Africans in particular, are urbanising at a rapid pace. @afriforum #ExpropriationWithoutCompensation — Monique Taute (@monique_taute) September 6, 2018

The gratification that the ANC/EFF alliance get from hurting the middle class and the wealthy outweighs the desire to uplift poor people. @ErnstRoets @afriforum #ExpropriationWithoutCompensation — Monique Taute (@monique_taute) September 6, 2018

About 5% of agricultural land is available in the market for purchase every year. If @GovernmentZA had only spent that money on purchasing farms, it would have bought out half of the country’s farms by now. @ErnstRoets @afriforum #ExpropriationWithoutCompensation pic.twitter.com/vZTmvRbEEq — Monique Taute (@monique_taute) September 6, 2018

.@ErnstRoets: According to @MYANC’s own strategy & tactics docs, they believe in a national democratic revolution so that state mechanisms can be used to further the goals of the revolution, which is to move SA down the path of socialism, eventually to create a communist utopia. pic.twitter.com/VIAAaSNM2O — Monique Taute (@monique_taute) September 6, 2018

Roets said expropriation of land without compensation disregards individual property rights.

MPs slated the group, accusing it of distorting history, displaying arrogance, insulting parliamentarians and attacking the ANC and the EFF rather than discussing the matter at hand, which is the possible amendment of section 25 of the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.

Roets replied by saying he had not come to parliament to convince MPs of the group’s viewpoint, but rather to reveal the shortcomings of the governing party and the red berets.

He said the group acknowledges that there were serious injustices in South Africa that need to be dealt with, but in a holistic manner.

Roets, among others, suggested that property rights should be protected, people should be given an opportunity to work their way out of poverty, restitution should take place but in specific terms that include injustices, the improvement of education at black schools and the issuing of title deeds to people living on state-owned land.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.