South Africa's parliament has approved a bill allowing
the government to expropriate land in the public interest.
The measure will allow the compulsory purchase of land
to place more in black ownership.
Most of South Africa's land remains in white ownership
two decades after the end of apartheid.
The governing ANC party said the law would tackle
injustices imposed by white-minority rule.
However, the opposition Democratic Alliance opposed
the bill.
BBC South Africa correspondent Milton Nkosi says land
is an emotive issue 22 years after the end of apartheid.
President Jacob Zuma must now sign the bill into law,
a move that could take weeks or months.
Under the new law, the state will be able to
expropriate land in the "public interest", paying the owner a value
determined by a government adjudicator.
"The passing of the bill by parliament is
historic and heralds a new era of intensified land distribution programme to
bring long-awaited justice to the dispossessed majority of South
Africans," the ANC (African National Congress) said in a statement.
About 10% of land in white ownership has been
transferred to black owners since the end of apartheid, which is only a third
of the ANC's target.
Correspondents say it will not mean the kind of often
violent land grabs from white farmers seen in neighbouring Zimbabwe.
President Zuma and the ANC have said that land
distribution has to take place in the framework of the law.
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