The row between the EFF and the ANC led to the collapse of the Bill for expropriation of land without compensation when the ruling party could not reach the 67% threshold to pass it in Parliament.
The ANC managed to get 204 of its MPs to back the Bill with 145 opposition parties rejecting it.
The ANC would have required a total of 267 MPs to pass through the Bill, but it fell short of that. The ANC last had two-thirds majority after the 2004 elections, but in 2009 its support dropped. It continued to drop in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
House chairperson Cedric Frolick made it clear before proceedings started yesterday that the Bill would require a two-thirds majority to be approved by the Chamber.
If it failed to get the required majority, it would not pass.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola had fired the first salvo when he accused the EFF of getting into bed with the DA and Freedom Front Plus to frustrate the ANC to get the Bill approved.
But EFF leader Julius Malema hit back at the ANC and accused it of failing to take the matter to its conclusion and pandering to the whims of other interests.
Lamola said the coalition between the EFF and the DA with FF Plus was continuing after the last month’s elections where the ANC lost the Gauteng metros.
“When the forces in the extreme left and the extreme right converge against the people, it is a counter-revolution. In this entanglement, the EFF, DA and Freedom Front Plus pretend not to be in the same bed. They behave like couples who have celebrated lobola yet they tell the whole world they are not married.
“How ironic that they voted together in local government. They pronounced that they will vote together today to oppose the Bill yet they continue to tell the people of this country that they are not coalition partners. It is clear that this entanglement has graduated into a coalition and they are agreeing on everything, including opposing land reform,” said Lamola.
Malema said the ANC had let the people down and would not be trusted.
“We are here to report to the people who have entrusted us with the responsibility of amending the Constitution to ensure a swift return of their stolen land that the dominant black political parties could not find each other on this question.
“The EFF made cogent submissions on the amendments needed to have far-reaching effects on the repossession of land by the Africans. All these submissions were outrightly rejected by the ruling party which has preoccupied itself with maintaining the status quo and protecting the interests of white land owners,” said Malema.
The DA said it rejected the Bill because expropriation of land without compensation would chase away investors.
DA caucus chairperson Annelie Lotriet said this created a lot of uncertainty.
The IFP also said it would not support the amendments.
IFP chief whip Narend Singh said the slow pace of land reform in the country resulted from corruption in the government.
POLITICAL BUREAU