CAPE TOWN, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- The National Assembly on Tuesday agreed to the principle of the expropriation of land without compensation.
However, the expropriation of land must be conducted within the context of ensuring food security, economic growth and radical economic transformation, said Nonceba Mhlauli, spokesperson of the African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament.
The National Assembly accepted amendments tabled by the ANC, according to Mhlauli.
Under the ANC amendments, the Constitutional Review Committee of Parliament will review Section 25 of the Constitution and other clauses where necessary to sufficiently cater for the principle of land expropriation without compensation, said Mhlauli.
The Committee has been directed to prioritize this issue and report back to Parliament by August 30 this year.
The move by the National Assembly is in line with the resolution of the 54th National Conference of the ANC late last year which resolved that the ANC should, as a matter of policy, pursue expropriation of land without compensation.
The ANC conference, however, stressed that land expropriation without compensation should be pursued without destabilizing the agricultural sector, endangering food security in the country, or undermining economic growth and job creation.
In his first State of Nation Address earlier this month, Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC President and the President of South Africa, made a commitment that the government would continue the land reform program that entails expropriation of land without compensation, making use of all mechanisms at the disposal of the state.
Ramaphosa said this will be implemented in a manner that will increase agricultural production, improve food security, and ensure that the land is returned to those from whom it was taken under the brutality of colonialism and apartheid.
"The ANC in Parliament appreciates the need to take bold steps that will transform our economy including land ownership and reform," Mhlauli said.
The latest move by the National Assembly heralds a new era of intensified land distribution to address the long standing national grievance of South African blacks around land dispossession, said Mhlauli.
"We look forward to the outcome of the constitutional review processes on the modalities of expropriation of land without compensation. As the ANC in Parliament, we will closely monitor this process," he added.
Since taking power in 1994, the ANC has made land redistribution from whites to blacks without compensation one of its main policies.
But land remains predominantly in white hands more than two decades after the end of apartheid, sparking growing discontent among South African blacks.
The opposition strongly opposes compulsory purchases of land, saying this would kill jobs and threaten food security.
