AFTER ANC MPs rejected the opportunity to change the Constitution and legalise the expropriation of land, the party is now calling for the speeding up of land redistribution.
ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said the party has agreed that accelerating land distribution is necessary.
Mantashe yesterday said more could be done with existing land redistribution laws.
During the recent State of the Nation Address, the EFF offered the ANC its 6% voting power in parliament, which would have enabled the ruling party to change the law and expropriate land.
The offer, which EFF leader Julius Malema stressed had no conditions, was turned down by the ANC majority in parliament.
Mantashe said the National Executive Committee had agreed to talk to former liberation movements about the land matter.
However, he did not reveal which liberation movements he was referring to.
Mantashe also could not say whether the ANC would discuss the matter with the EFF, which has a significant amount of power in parliament. Instead, Mantashe accused the party of stealing the land issue from the ANC, claiming the EFF paraded it as their policy.
He added that parts of the Constitution which were an obstacle to effective land redistribution needed to be identified.
Mantashe said the NEC would also clarify what must be done to strengthen policies regarding the redistribution of land.
On the matter of Eastern Cape’s Nelson Mandela Bay recently elected chairman Andile Lungisa, who defied instructions not to contest in lower structures, Mantashe said the province had been instructed to deal with the matter.
This was after the NEC reaffirmed its position that no member who served in the senior position should stand for lower contestations in lower structures.
Lungisa has since reportedly resigned from his position.
