Thread by @RuthHallPLAAS

Webinar: Equitable access to land

Finally, a court said to government: no, you can't sell off public land when it could be used for affordable housing. Join activists & allies to map the way forward.
Thur 17th 13.00
#Land4PeopleNot4Profit #EquitableAccess plaas.org.za/plaas-webinar-…

@MandiShandu says the Tafelberg judgment in case taken by @ReclaimCT shows that spatial inequality has to be disrupted, and the state - city, province & national - all have constitutional responsibilities to use public land to foster redress & equity.✊🏽 #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

@CapeTown sold off land earmarked for affordable housing, for a short-term cash injection of R130 million. It was unconstitutional 'cos the state has constitutional duty to provide access to adequate housing (Section 26(1)) & equitable access to land (Section 25(5). @MandiShandu

The court said the State must rapidly release land for affordable housing & other basic needs to ensure equitable access. Private property power & market can't override these rights. @MandiShandu @NdifunaUkwazi @ReclaimCT #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

The state *must* disrupt property relations. To create equitable access to land, as required in the 'property clause', means state must privilege change. State must abandon the notion that certain parts of the city are for certain kinds of people. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

Sheila Madikane of @ReclaimCT says that poor people need to live closer to their jobs - more than rich people do. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

Sheila says R1,500 -R3,000 is the maximum that working class people can afford to pay as monthly rent. Evictions push people further and further out - into occupying open land far out on the periphery or making the hard choice to live on the streets. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

@ReclaimCT is saying that market value of land cannot be the state's guiding principle. The state is not an estate agent. Public land has to be prioritised for purposes that shift inequality - economic, social and spatial. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

@NkanyisoGums of @PLAASuwc says the Tafelberg case shows that the constitutional right of "access to land on an equitable basis" is a real right. It is not restricted to rural land. Every citizen has this right. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

The next steps in this struggle for land are:
1. push for framing legislation to set out how people can activate the right of access to land on an equitable basis,

says @NkanyisoGums #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

2. ensure that land & money available are shared on the basis of principles of equity - not just govt handing out land. State has to be answerable for prioritising people with most urgent needs - not elite capture.

says @NkanyisoGums #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

3. facilitate subdivision! You cannot have smallholders without small farms. Enable denser housing options on well-located land in cities. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

4. recognise informal tenure (or 'social tenures') of the poor as constituting real property rights. Otherwise our property system is biased only to recognise private title, and not recognise the rights of the poor. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

5. budget properly to fix SA's land system - administration, management, redistribution and support for land use. And fix the institutions that are meant to manage this. Chronic problems here.... #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

Expropriation must be used for land reform purposes where it's needed - but not a silver bullet, says @MandiShandu. The most rapid way to obtain land for redistribution is to ensure that public land is made available. And definitely stop it selling off. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

A dynamic debate here. Sheila Madikane of @ReclaimCT says govt must expropriate vacant land that can be used for housing. Public interests must override private ownership. What's the social utility of the land? #Land4PeopleNot4Profits

Since 2010, @ReclaimCT has been fighting for the vacant public land in Sea Point to be made available for affordable housing. Since 2015, the sale of the land has been in dispute. In 2020, the courts say the sale was illegal. Finally, a victory. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

This tendency of government to sell off land in the market, or to allocate to elites, should make us suspicious of expropriation. The question is not just how the state *gets* the state, but how citizens can get the power to claim land from the state. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

Land is a finite resource. There's no more being created. So every decision about allocation and access is a balancing act between competing interests and needs. This is what the courts say. #Land4PeopleNot4Profit

Last thought from a brilliant webinar. @MandiShandu says now's the time for a radical law that says how every citizen can claim a right of equitable access to land. That's the next step. 🔥

#Land4PeopleNot4Profit @NdifunaUkwazi @CovidCoalition

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