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- Housing activists urged Cyril Ramaphosa to donate 32 pieces of vacant public land to communities.
- There were protests in Cape Town and Johannesburg on Wednesday.
- Activists are demanding urgent action through the State Land Disposal Act.
Several social justice organisations nationwide submitted requests to President Cyril Ramaphosa to donate 32 pieces of vacant and under-utilised public land to communities.
On Wednesday, there were protests in Cape Town and Johannesburg.
In Cape Town, the march moved from Mowbray to the president's official residence in Newlands.
In Johannesburg, demonstrations took place at the BRICS Summit.
The organisations include Ndifuna Ukwazi, Inner-City Federation, Housing Assembly, Reclaim the City, Indibano Yabahlali and Intlungu YaseMatyotyombeni.
The organisations are demanding urgent action through the State Land Disposal Act.
Nikelwa Maqula, a land and housing activist, said the government was evading the question of land.
"Through that, among those who bear the brunt the most, are the working class, as they don't have the means to insulate themselves from the many social ills that plague our society.
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"Government must stop hoarding land as they are only the custodians of the land. We are calling on the president to use the powers given to him by the State Land Disposal Act to release land to the people who so desperately need it," Maqula said.
The State Land Disposal Act 48 of 1961 is a piece of apartheid-era legislation, which gives the president the power to donate, sell, lease or exchange any piece of public land in the country.
Wiseman Mpepo, the leader of Intlungu YaseMatyotyombeni, said the national campaign addressed the most crucial question on the security of tenure for the landless and the broader working-class.
"This is the beginning of a fight that is challenging the state in fast-tracking the land redistribution programme. We are saying to the president: women who are deprived of access and ownership of land have no reason to celebrate Women's Month," Mpepo said.
Comment from the Presidency will be added, if received.
