SowetanLive reports that labour federation in North West has called on the government to treat all traditional leaders equally when addressing land issues to avoid tribalism.
Newly elected executive members said they were concerned about the way government was dealing with land expropriation without compensation. North West is mostly rural, with the majority of its villages controlled by traditional leaders. Provincial chairman Solly Lekhu said at the fifth provincial congress last week that they had resolved that the federation should participate in the forthcoming public hearings on the review of section 25 of the Constitution on land. They were "alarmed" at President Cyril Ramaphosa's decision "to meet one traditional leader and give certain assurances without necessarily waiting for this process to unfold". Lekhu's comments came after Ramaphosa's assurances to King Zwelithini last week that the government would not expropriate land under his Ingonyama Trust. Provincial deputy chairman Mxolisi Bomvana said if government did not tread carefully, it was likely to cause tribal wars.
- Read this report by Boitumelo Tshehle in full at SowetanLive
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