DA reveals that Rural Development and Land Reform Director General Thozi Gwanya has resigned after Auditor-General investigations
Director General Gwanya was individual responsible for wrongheaded call for farm nationalisation
DA will write to Auditor-General requesting public release of findings





The Democratic Alliance (DA) has received confirmation from a number of sources that the Director-General of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Thozi Gwanya has resigned. We understand that this follows the findings of an Auditor-General's report, which was requested by the DA. If this is indeed the case and a senior official has been compelled to resign on the basis of its findings, then there can be little doubt that the information contained therein is a matter that needs to be brought to the public's attention. The DA will be writing to the A-G requesting that the findings of his report be made public and will further also be writing to the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform to explain the reasons for the DG's resignation and how it links with the report.

The DA has now verified Mr. Gwanya's resignation with:

• A senior bureaucrat in the Department of Rural Development;
• A senior policy official in the Department of Rural Development; and
• An ANC legislator

With the Department having yet to confirm Mr. Gwanya's departure, it is essential that they now state publicly exactly what the situation is.

The DA believes that it is imperative that South Africa's skewed patterns of land ownership are urgently modified, and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, as the entity responsible for ensuring this, must be efficiently managed in order to deliver this. However, it has become quite evident that there is a dire lack of proficient financial management and political will at the Department as evidenced by number of startling incidents revealed by the DA. As the DA has revealed on previous occasions, the Department has a R3.4-billion backlog in payment in post-settlement grants; lawsuits pending to the tune of over R497-million in the courts against it and a R580-million backlog in payment to land sellers. It was on the basis of this deeply concerning information that I wrote to the A-G requaesting an investigation in the first place.

Following that letter, of which the Department and the Director-General were aware, I was informed by a number of senior members of the Department this week, including a senior ANC member confirming that the A-G has indeed instituted the investigation at my request. More significantly, I was informed that Mr. Gwanya, infamous for his wrongheaded and counterproductive call for the nationalisation of all productive farmland, had tendered his resignation - allegedly following his implication by the A-G in the investigation.

The AG must release the findings of its investigation. The DA will expect to see this report soon and will scrutinise it for the information it contains.