By Sihle Mavuso
MK parliamentary leader John Hlophe has questioned why some people believe that if land in South Africa is restored to its rightful owners, the South African rand will collapse.
The former judge president of the Western Cape High Court Division was impeached in March, costing him his status as a judge and lifetime perks.
Hlophe was a guest speaker on Saturday at the launch of the African Legal Professionals Association in Durban and used the occasion to talk about land. He said it is not true that property rates will drop if land is restored.
Hlophe said that the land in England belongs to the Queen, and everyone has a 99-year lease, yet the British have the strongest currency in the form of the pound.
“So this argument you hear from that old white granny who cannot be named, that if we Africanise the law and we take our land that was forcefully stolen from us, the rand will collapse. Why is the pound not collapsing in England?” asked Hlophe.
“We must open up to the reality, right. The property in England belongs to the Queen, there is nothing wrong with that, but African land which was taken at gunpoint will never go back to the rightful owners because the property is going to go down. Oh, go and tell that to the birds, not to Hlophe,” he said.
In his address, Hlophe insisted that South African law should be “Africanised” so that it is fully suitable for the people of the country.
He said some African people don’t like going to court to seek redress because they always know that they will lose.
“Law is foreign and there is an Afrikaner who is presiding [over the case] and he doesn’t even know your culture. For example, we are black people and women are not supposed to look a man in the eyes.”
Pictured above: Former judge president of the Western Cape High Court Division John Hlophe.
Source: Sihle Mavuso
