WATCH | Judge John Hlophe: Land debate should be a priority discussion for black families

Western Cape judge president John Hlophe has sparked a debate after he called for black parents to prioritise speaking to their children about how “this land was stolen”.

Speaking at a recent Black Lawyers Association event, Hlophe said the land debate must be a constant conversation at kitchen tables.

“If you look at other nationalities, the Jews for example, wherever they are they talk about the genocide. Jewish children know about their history, they know about the genocide. Why can’t we talk about land at least three times a day?” he asked.

“When you wake up in the morning and you are having breakfast with your children and your wife, tell them this land was stolen and there is the thief,” he said, adding similar conversations should be had during lunch and dinner.

He said South Africans need to internalise the land issue.

“It is too fragmented. I am talking about it. You will talk about it years down the line, if you remember.”

While some applauded him for “articulating issues of black people”, others said his reference to land thieves was problematic and he was at risk of being “purged”.

Speaking to the Sunday Times in July, ANC national chair Gwede Mantashe said it was time for the ANC to move on from standing resolutions on expropriation of land without compensation after it failed to implement them over five years.

“When you assess the implementation of resolutions, you must do a detailed analysis. Let me give you an example: expropriation of land without compensation. You can’t talk about that without acknowledging that there was a serious effort to amend section 25 of the constitution.

“We didn’t get a two-thirds majority in parliament, therefore we must look to other alternatives to do so. That’s implementation.”

Amending the constitution requires a two-thirds majority vote in parliament, which the ANC has failed to garner after talks with the EFF collapsed over state ownership.

Mantashe said the ruling party should use existing legislative and other tools, such as the Expropriation Bill, to reach its objective.

“You must use existing tools first — and not look for other tools when you have not tested existing tools — and give people land.”

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