Durban - Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, says Radical Economic Transformation was needed to bring about change in key sectors of our economy, including the financial sector.
She said the issue of land dispossession was a crucial and necessary discussion as “you cannot start any discussion on progress without talking about land”.
Dlamini Zuma on Monday was speaking at the Durban International Convention Centre seminar on good governance and accountability.
The minister has recently thrown her name into the hat to run against President Cyril Ramaphosa for the position of ANC leader at the party’s December elective conference.
“In pursuance of such an agenda, we must address the first crime visited upon South Africans, that of land dispossession. This will require the fast-tracking of land appropriation and redistribution, which at times will require that it is without compensation,” she said.
Dlamini Zuma said land redistribution requires accountable and transparent institutions. She said the fast-tracking of land redistribution must target the over five million active black farmers who are mostly eking out a living on rural communal land.
“By providing them with better access to financing, ICT, commercial skills, and markets, we can realise food security and sustainable economic growth.
“We should earnestly embark on a coordinated and impactful plan for all of society to transform our economy so that it serves all and not just a few. Some among us have validly called such a programme radical economic transformation. Such a programme must pay attention to the transformation of key sectors of our economy including the financial sector, as well as agriculture because a country that cannot feed itself does not deserve respect,” she said.
She said South Africa, like the rest of the continent, has enough land to feed itself and contribute to food security if agriculture was used properly.
Dlamini Zuma said a development state plan must be underpinned by land reform, gender equality, youth empowerment, empowerment of people living with disabilities, and the skills revolution.
“It must also be rooted in local economies and the transformation of the landscape in rural South Africa,” she said.