'Thy kingdom won’t be expropriated' — Ramaphosa promises Zulu king

08 July 2018 - 00:00
By SIBONGAKONKE SHOBA and BONGANI MTHETHWA
President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Image: Gallo Images President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Land under the control of the Ingonyama Trust will not be expropriated, says President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Speaking to ANC supporters in KwaDukuza yesterday after meeting King Goodwill Zwelithini, Ramaphosa said he had assured the Zulu monarch a report recommending the trust be scrapped was not government policy.

“I said to the king as the ANC we have no intention whatsoever to ever touch the land under the Ingonyama Trust. The recommendation by the high-level panel [remains] a recommendation of the panel ... we are not going to dissolve the trust,” he said.

“The expropriation of land without compensation is not targeting the 13% of land under the control of traditional leaders. Communal land is going to continue to be under the control of traditional leaders.”

On Wednesday, King Zwelithini threatened to push for KwaZulu-Natal to secede if the government implemented the  recommendations of the panel, which was chaired by former president Kgalema Motlanthe.

Read the full story in the Sunday Times.