SPEECH BY PRESIDENT MANDELA AT THE LAUNCH OF THE KWAZULU-NATAL LAND REFORM
PILOT PROGRAMME

Weenen, 26 March 1995

Minister of Land Affairs;
Premier of the KwaZulu-Natal Province;

Distinguished guests;
ladies and Gentlemen.

With freedom and democracy last year, came restoration of the right to land.
And with it, the opportunity to address the effects of centuries of dispossesion
and denial.

It is therefore a matter of great pride for me, to be here to launch this
project. At last we can, as a people, look our ancestors in the face and say:
Your sacrifices were not in vain. The time has come to correct the wrongs that
colonial invasion brought on our communities.

In addressing land hunger, the Government of National Unity is not engaged in
a simplistic, punitive and unproductive exercise. We seek a solution that is
generally acceptable to all, an approach that eliminates the suspicion,
mistrust, and anger that have characterised land disputes over the years.

Furthermore, our land redistribution policy insists on the effective and
productive use of land as a resource in a sustainable way.

Our Pilot Land Reform Programme is concrete first step in our land
redistribution programme. This in turn is central to rural development, which
will address the poverty, unemployment, mainutrition and economic depression
that characterises so much of our rural areas. As such land reform is an
integral part of the Reconstruction and Development Programme aimed at bringing
a better life for all.

So we are here in KwaNobamba today to launch the first pilot land reform
project for this province. This project, together with the eight similar
projects in the other provinces, is a test, its lessons will be applied to each
district and locality across the country over time.

It is because these projects open the way for systematic land reform and
rural development, that they were made part of Presidential Projects announced
at the start of our first democratically elected Parliament.

This area, the Escourt-Weenen District was chosen for this test because here
there are already land-related and planning initiatives under way. The people of
this area have demonstrated that they are ready to shoulder responsibility for
their own development and resolve their own problems.

The way in which you handled a threatened land invasion last year, as well as
the farmworkers and farm tenants strike early this year demonstrated the
maturity of the people of this area. The planning, joint efforts and
negotiations that have gone into the land acquisition process left government in
no doubt that the people of this district can provide a model for others. We are
confident that the 35 million rand that we shall be ploughing into this project
over the next three years will be money well spent.

Community involvement and mass participation in development efforts lie at
the heart of the Reconstruction and Development Programme. There can be no
development without community participation. You are reaping the fruits of your
co-operation and creativity. We are today launching a project that will benefit
your rural community of 45,000 people. It will help bring jobs and a better
standard of living.

In the successful implementation of such projects, local authorities have a
crucial role to play. They will receive state grants on behalf of the community.
They will determine who benefits and they will oversee the project. This is why
you must ensure that you register for the November elections. You must put in
place a democratic local authority that is responsive to your needs; an
authority that will sustain what your community has done so far and improve on
it.

In this way, we shall all make the RDP work!