6 February 2006

The government has assured landless South Africans that the state will play a central role in the land reform process.

Delivering his State of the Nation address at the opening of Parliament in Cape Town on Friday, Mbeki said the government would review the "willing buyer, willing seller" land reform policy.

Current land acquisition models, including the possible manipulation of land prices, would also be reviewed, the President said.

Mbeki said he had also tasked Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Thoko Didiza with regulating the conditions under which foreigners can buy land in South Africa, adding that this would be done "in line with international norms and practices."

The government aims to distribute 30% of agricultural land to previously disadvantaged South Africans by 2014; by June 2005 it was reported that only 3% had been redistributed.

"The minister and the department will also ensure that the land redistribution programme is aligned to the provincial growth and development strategies as well as the integrated development plans of municipalities," Mbeki said.

He said Didiza and her department would also ensure that funds allocated for productive use of land were used in the proper manner.

Source: BuaNews

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