The Department of Rural Development wants to accelerate land grabs, says Athol Trollip, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader in Parliament.
The Department of Rural Development wants to accelerate land grabs, says Athol Trollip, Democratic Alliance (DA) leader in Parliament.
Trollip, who is the party's chairman in the Eastern Cape, was addressing the party's councillors during a visit in Port Alfred last Thursday. "They want to introduce a green paper on land reform that would accelerate land grabbing, the department says the willing buyer willing seller principle does not work," explained Trollip.
"They say farmers inflate the value of the property, that is not the case. No thorough audit of the department's affairs is done."
He accused the Department of Rural Development of not delivering services and argued that officials in the department are inflating the value of the property and then pocketing the difference. He said elected officials must be committed to the mandate they receive from the voters. "You must make a difference, you will be punished at the next election if you don't deliver. You must have a leverage that makes things work, efficient service delivery is not negotiable."
Trollip also accused the African National Congress (ANC) of threatening the Constitution. "The ANC wants to change the Constitution, we must not allow them to gain a two-thirds majority," he elaborated. "We must move away from race politics, the ANC always play the race card when confronted for poor service delivery – they whip the emotions of the people up."
He urged councillors and civic organisations to spearhead the party's growth at local level. He said the party has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Independent Democrats (ID) following ID president Patricia de Lille putting her interests aside.
"She is now a minister in the cabinet of the Western Cape," he added. He also said the DA wants to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Congress of the People (Cope) as Cope won a "significant number of votes in the last general elections.
We want to sign a memorandum of understanding once they have held their conference to elect a leader." The DA wants Cope to help the former win elections in both the Nelson Mandela and Tshwane metros during next year's local government elections.
Lynette Lovemore, who represents the Makana and Kouga municipalities in Parliament, said her role is a "dual one". She is not only the shadow minister of Home Affairs Department, she also raises the issues referred to her by residents in Parliament.
