Cape Town - Government would be looking at the possibility of using Section 25 of the constitution to expropriate land as it remained concerned about the slow pace of land reform in South Africa .

This with only 3% of land redistributed to landless South Africans out of the target of 30% of land earmarked for redistribution by 2014, President Thabo Mbeki said in Parliament yesterday.

He was responding to a question over whether cabinet had taken a position on the campaign by the South African Communist Party to occupy land at various sites around South Africa.

Saying that the MP had misconceived what the SACP had said, the president said the SACP, trying to highlight the slow pace of land reform, had said it would carry out merely a "symbolic" occupation of land while respecting private property rights.

So far it had embarked on only one symbolic act of land occupation, at Brits municipality, and had done this with the permission of the municipality, the President said, adding that the SACP had a constitutional right to embark on protest action and that he respected this right.

Government itself remained concerned about the slow pace of land reform, President  Mbeki said, adding that the process had slowed for various reasons, among them budgetary constraints.

These constraints emerged in light of the current high prices of land in South Africa along with the related, market-based, approach of "willing buyer, willing seller" that government had so far taken on the land question. This has so far yielded few results, given the limited "supply-side" part of the equation.

Other interventions may be needed to speed up the process, such as the use of Section 25 of the Constitution, which makes provision for "other options" with regard to the land question, President Mbeki said.

Clause 2 of Section 25 of the Constitution reads: "Property may be expropriated only ... (a) for a public purpose or in the public interest; and (b) subject to compensation, the amount of which and the time and manner of payment of which have either been agreed to by those affected or decided or approved by a court."

The mention of "public interest" here includes "the nation's commitment to land reform, and to reforms to bring about equitable access to all South Africa's natural resources", reads the constitution.

Clause 3 of Section 25 reads: "The amount of the compensation and the time and manner of payment must be just and equitable, reflecting an equitable balance between the public interest and the interests of those affected, having regard to all circumstances, including (a) the current use of the property; (b) the history of the acquisition and use of the property; (c) the market value of the property; (d) the extent of direct state investment and subsidy in the acquisition and beneficial capital improvement of the property; and (e) the purpose of the expropriation."

Clause 5 of the Constitution reads: "The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis."

Government was committed to respecting the constitution, the President said, adding that the "fair compensation" with regard to expropriated land demanded by the constitution would itself affect affordability given the provision of state resources.