Government has no plans at present to limit the foreign ownership of land, though there are concerns that need to be addressed in that regard, says Deputy President Jacob Zuma.

'If government were to consider restrictions on land ownership, such an issue would have to be thoroughly discussed between various government departments and other stakeholders,' he said.

The Deputy President was responding to questions in Parliament, yesterday, where he addressed various issues, including HIV/AIDS.

He said the Department of Land Affairs was currently conducting research into the matter of foreign ownership of land in the country.

'The research, amongst other matters, will address the numbers and types of cases involved and will also entail a comparative study of countries facing similar challenges,' he said.

It would also allay growing concerns that land was being rested in the hands of foreigners who had no interest in the wellbeing of South Africans.

On whether government intended taking any steps to ensure that HIV/AIDS was made a notifiable disease so as to facilitate an integrated government response to the pandemic, Deputy President Zuma said other means were used to gauge and manage the level of infection.

Government was able to chart on a year-by-year basis the increase or decrease of the rates of infection, even to the extent of being able to isolate the figures as they relate to particular social groupings, he explained.

'The absence therefore of the declaration of HIV/AIDS as a notifiable disease, has not prevented us from monitoring the statistics and responding in an integrated fashion,' he said. -BuaNews