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The percentage attached to the government's plan to redistribute land to black South Africans was a mythical figure, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe told journalists on Wednesday night.
While the target of reaching 30 percent redistribution by 2014 was still a government goal, it would be impossible to implement in practical terms, he told members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association in Cape Town.
"I think there are difficulties in just scanning the land surface and saying this percentage is in the hands of white South Africans and therefore still needs distributed to other South African nationalities," he said.
Motlanthe said it was not possible to tell which part of the country needed to be distributed to satisfy land hunger.
"Where do you start? [Do you] drive across the Karoo and say nobody seems to be occupying this land, so we'll get people to come and reside here or do you go to the gems of this country, the most beautiful panoramic areas and say these people are deserving to enjoy this space?" he asked.
Motlanthe suggested that the government first identify the purpose for which land was needed, and then procure the piece of land.
On the furore surround the willing buyer, willing seller model, the deputy president said the debate mystified him.
"When government needs to procure land in the public interest, it is perfectly empowered to do so by the Constitution, to identify such land and make an offer."
He said that where prices were inflated by land owners, the Constitution gave the government the right to expropriate the land.
"The aggrieved party will then go to court, and the court of law then places itself at the boots of the willing seller, willing buyer [model] to make a determination."
Motlanthe said he did not understand how it had become a stumbling block.
