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The re-opening of land claims in the government’s restitution program was a mistake and is unworkable, Dr. Pieter Groenewald, the FF Plus’ parliamentary spokesperson on rural development and land reform said.

Dr. Groenewald said during the budget debate of the department of rural development and land reform that with the previous process, 93% of claimants preferred money rather than land which shows that they are not really interested in land.

“It is all about the redistribution of taxpayer’s money and government thinks this is how wealth is created. To take from one to give it to another does not create wealth.

“The department’s budget is R9,3 billion per annum. Of this R2,6 billion has been budgeted for land restitution.

“The government calculates that 397 000 new land claims will be received now that the process has been re-opened. It will cost taxpayers approximately R179 billion.

“I would like to know how the ANC government is planning to make a success of this process with only R2,6 billion annually being budgeted for a process that will cost R179 billion. That means that it will take approximately 70 years to finalise all the claims. It is a lifetime.

“The re-opening of the restitution claims was a big mistake. It creates uncertainty. Is this not just a case of the king being given the opportunity to claim land?” Dr. Groenewald asked.

Various allegations of land being “stolen” were made and Dr. Groenewald said these comments should be stopped. “It it is said that white people stole land, it can be said that black people stole land from the Khoi and San. Nobody stole land from anybody else and this type of allegations does not promote good relations in South Africa and should be stopped now,” Dr. Groenewald said.