South Africa’s ruling party says it will push ahead with plans to amend the country’s constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.

President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the decision on Tuesday following a two-day meeting of the African National Congress, which had earlier signalled its intention to redistribute land under the current laws.

The South African parliament in February voted in favour of a motion, brought by the radical Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters and supported by the ANC, to send the matter to parliament’s Constitutional Review Committee. (more…)

A top Australian official has called for emergency visas for South Africa’s white farmers, who are reportedly facing rising violence amid government calls for land expropriation in favor of black citizens.

“If you look at the footage and read the stories, you hear the accounts, it’s a horrific circumstance they face,” said Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. “I think these people deserve special attention and we’re certainly applying that special attention now.”

“I do think, on the information that I’ve seen, people do need help and they need help from a civilized country like ours,”Dutton said, commenting on a documentary about violent rural crime in South Africa. (more…)

The ACT Party’s David Seymour refused to congratulate New Zealand’s Winter Olympians in Parliament today.

He said Parliament’s priorities are “warped” after New Zealand First and Labour said they would veto his proposed motion to condemn South Africa’s decision to allow land owned by white farmers to be confiscated without compensation.

South Africa’s parliament voted in favour of allowing land to be confiscated from white farmers, after decades of racial grievances in the formerly apartheid state. (more…)

South Africa’s parliament has voted in favour of a motion that will begin the process of amending the country’s Constitution to allow for the confiscation of white-owned land without compensation.

The motion was brought by Julius Malema, leader of the radical Marxist opposition party the Economic Freedom Fighters, and passed overwhelmingly by 241 votes to 83 against. The only parties who did not support the motion were the Democratic Alliance, Freedom Front Plus, Cope and the African Christian Democratic Party.

It was amended but supported by the ruling African National Congress and new president Cyril Ramaphosa, who made land expropriation a key pillar of his policy platform after taking over from ousted PM Jacob Zuma earlier this month.

“The time for reconciliation is over. Now is the time for justice,” Malema was quoted by News24 as telling parliament. “We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land.” (more…)

Thousands of mainly white, Afrikaans-speaking South Africans have taken to the streets to protest the ongoing epidemic of savage farm murders sweeping the country.

The October 30th #BlackMonday protests were organised after civil rights group AfriForum released figures claiming the murder rate for South African farmers was 156 per 100,000 — putting it well above the already high national average and making farming in the troubled ex-colony arguably the most dangerous occupation in the world outside a warzone.

At the same time, the number of slain farmers, farm workers, and family members — most of them white — had hit 71, surpassing the estimated death toll for 2016. (more…)