Durban – The ANC needs to be unified to bring about socio-economic freedom and eliminate the racist legacies of apartheid, President Jacob Zuma said on Saturday.

“As we enter the second phase of the transition – we commit ourselves to a program of action to speed up the elimination of these legacies and bring about socio-economic freedom,” he told thousands of African National Congress members at the Kings Park stadium in Durban.

He said much of South Africa’s problems resulted from the 1913 Land Act, which allowed 87 percent of the land to be distributed to whites.

The act regulated the acquisition of land by black people and was the first major piece of segregation legislation passed by the Union Parliament. The act decreed that only certain areas of the country could be owned by black people. In the 1990s it was replaced by the current policy of land restitution.

Cadres heard that government was unlikely to meet its land reform target of transferring 30 percent of farming land back to blacks.

Zuma said the “willing buyer; willing seller” principle would be replaced by the “just and equitable” principle of land expropriation.

It was at the party’s 52nd elective conference in Polokwane in 2007 where the target of 30 percent was set.

Zuma said the country continued to face “skewed patterns of ownership”.

“Decisive action is required to change economic patterns and realise our vision,” he said.

The patterns in the economy were characterised by the marginalisation of “our people”, he said, adding that “monopoly capital” remained an obstacle.

The ANC had opted for a mixed economy.

“It must be a State that has the capacity to intervene in the economy to lead development,” said Zuma.

This goal was contained in the National Development Plan (NDP), which has been punted as a strategic document to build South Africa.

Zuma said the NDP set out various methods to tackle unemployment, poverty and inequality, and urged citizens to unite behind the plan.

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