World IN BRIEF : SOUTH AFRICA : Government to Help Blacks Regain Land

The South African government proposed land reforms to remedy inequities between blacks and whites--and admitted it might decide to seize some land from whites. Most of the reforms would be accomplished through a grant program that would give blacks money to buy land from whites, who own 87% of South Africa’s property but make up only 12% of the population, Land Affairs Minister Derek Hanekom said. Expropriation would be only a “measure of last resort,” Hanekom added. Between 1960 and 1980, 3.5 million blacks were forced off their land solely because of their race.