Unity and land reform take centre stage at Soweto community gathering
Image: Siyabonga Sithole/IOL
The unity of black people with their Colored counterparts and the return of land to rightful owners were some of the hot topics during a gathering of community-based organisations, including members of the Operation Dudula Movement, Black Entrepreneurs Alliance, and the Soweto Alliance. The dialogue was held at the Anchor Comprehensive School in Orlando West, Soweto, on Saturday.
uMkhonto weSizwe MP Zwelakhe Mthethwa, said that for poor black South Africans to regain their land, which was stolen through conquest and legislation, the unity of black people across all ethnic groups needs to be paramount.
"The only way we resolve the issue of land dispossession is for us as Black people to unite against those who have a problem with us, which is those who own the land that belongs to us. Those who have been bought must not disturb the process that should unfold of returning the land to its rightful owners. Our traditional leaders successfully reclaimed the land in 1994, but those leading us have failed to return the land to the people. The documents and all the proof are there," he stated.
Operation Dudula's Bhekani Thusi stated: "Now more than ever, we must meet and unite as South Africans to find a common goal to deal with the issue of land, immigration, and the economy because we have become spectators in our land. We have just come from a very progressive march in KZN."
Chief Xam Keith Duarte, who is part of the Gauteng Housing Crisis Committee and represents the Khoi San and the people of Eldorado Park, decried the lack of support the Coloured community receives from the government, especially when it comes to housing and human settlements.
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