Human Settlement Minister Tokyo Sexwale on Thursday emphasised the importance of property ownership at the 43rd South African Property Owners Association (Sapoa) convention in Cape Town.

“Everyone wants to own property. Everyone has a right to property ownership,” he said, adding that the issue of ownership had to be dealt with.

“We have so much land that will be divided into many plots. The more plots we have the better,” Sexwale, who is accused of being part of a plot to unseat President Jacob Zuma in 2014, quipped at the convention.

The Minister stressed that, according to the Constitution, no one should be deprived from owning property, except in terms of the law of general application, and that no law may permit arbitrary depravation of property.

“Our Constitution cannot be treated as a piece of toilet paper. It is a formidable law that comes with the dreams and hopes of the people.”

Using the unrest in the Middle East as an example, Sexwale said that the revolution was as a result of people struggling of find their voices. The people of Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, are saying to the rulers, it is time to go.

“They are fighting for a voice in a system that rendered them voiceless. They want to talk about jobs, land and owning property. They are 40 years behind South Africa. We have the voice and they are in a struggle to use their voices as a tool for change.”

He cautioned that in a developing country, if people do not have a sense of belonging, one is asking for a revolution.

“A fundamental revolution to bring change. If fellow South Africans do not have a sense of belonging, the scientific law of a revolution will kick in.”

He bemoaned the fact that the “tentacles of apartheid” in terms of spacial planning were still evident in South Africa, citing Soweto as an example of the largest sprawl in Africa.

“We have a shrewd system to redress and address. We need to reverse the legacy of apartheid to unite Johannesburg and Soweto, Umlazi and Durban. We need to close that gap and unite the people.”

He pointed out that the 2,1 million housing units backlog and the 2 700 informal settlements without water, electricity and sanitation as an “enormous challenge”.

Sexwale also urged Sapoa to partner with the government in terms of funding bulk services.

“We have a number of projects on stream, but water, electricity and sanitation remain a challenge,” he said.

Outgoing Sapoa president and Liberty Life Properties CEO Samuel Ogbu also said that the industry and government had to work together to create new opportunities.

He urged the industry to find new ways to recover from the slump in 2008 and to find opportunities and exploring them.

Meanwhile, Ogbu said that Sapoa had a busy year engaging policy makers on national discords. Over the past year, it has been looking at over 90 pieces of legislation that impact on the real estate industry.