Illegal land invaders in South Africa have been put on notice with the parliament now saying it will take stern action against those implicated.

This coming in the wake of reports of attacks and invasion of a 7,500-hectare farm in KwaZulu-Natal Province over the weekend, where “violent thugs” torched the farm and allegedly threw the farm manager into a fire.

The manager was hospitalized with burns.

“We must do all in our power to stem illegal farm invasions and ensure that such acts of criminality do not derail the legitimate process of restitution, nor cause hardship and suffering to the rightful beneficiaries of such claims,” said Nkosi Mandela, chairperson of Parliament’s Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Committee.

Mandela said land restitution process is highly emotive characterized with trauma, pain and suffering arising from historic dispossession, but violence will not be part of the process meant to restore, heal and advance reconciliation and social cohesion among the South Africans.

Parliament in South Africa is preparing to amend the Constitution to pave way for land expropriation without compensation.

The land issue has been in the spotlight in South Africa since 2018 when the ruling African National Congress (ANC) stepped up efforts to expropriate land without compensation.

Meanwhile, the government is soon to release a report which will inform the finalization of a comprehensive, far-reaching and trans-formative land reform program.

But even with the government’s efforts, landless South Africans complain that the country has not done much in tackling the land issue, arguing that most of the country’s land still remains in the hands of a few people.