DA threatens action over ‘archaic and ruinous’ bill
The expropriation bill sailed through the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Tuesday with the DA threatening legal action over what it called an “archaic and ruinous” bill.
All provinces, except the DAgoverned Western Cape, supported the bill. The draft legislation has sparked fears among landowners that the proposed reforms could lead to a similar situation to that of Zimbabwe, where attempts to address skewed land ownership patterns dating back to the colonial era resulted in governmentsanctioned land grabs.
This led to an economic and social crisis from which that country is still trying to recover.
The DA said land reform had failed due to corruption and maladministration, and the expropriation bill was not the solution to the problem.
The DA’s public works & infrastructure spokesperson in the NCOP, Tim Brauteseth, accused the ANC-led government of “bulldozing” the bill in a “last-ditch effort to cobble votes together” in the run-up to the 2024 elections, where the ANC’s support is widely expected to fall below 50% for the first time since 1994.
The bill amounted to nothing more than introducing expropriation without compensation through the legislative backdoor, Brauteseth said, emphasising the bill was inconsistent with section 25 of the constitution dealing with property rights.
He accused the ANC of risking the property rights of millions of South Africans for “cheap political gain”.
He also took issue with the process that guided the bill through the NCOP committee, saying it was beset with irregularities and “an alarming level of disinterest in ANC-governed provinces to comply with proper parliamentary procedure”.
“The ANC-led government, unconcerned by tampering with our constitutional rights in this way, and with some fancy footwork, has snuck a provision into the bill to allow for expropriation with “nil compensation”, in the hopes that this would pass constitutional muster”.
In disguise
The bill, Brauteseth said, was expropriation without compensation in disguise.
“In addition to this destructive clause, it further gives the minister of public works the power to expropriate property in the public interest, or for a public purpose. This clause is unreasonably vague with no definition as to what this may entail.
“Equally as destructive, is the provision which dictates that any delay in payment of compensation to the expropriated owner will not prevent the passing of the right to possession to the government.”
Brauteseth said what this meant “is that even where a fee may be agreed, it may result in a de facto nil compensation where payment can be delayed for years, while the property has already been expropriated”.
As changes were made to the original bill passed by the National Assembly, the bill would now return for either approval or mediation, he said.
“Should the ANC in the National Assembly once again abuse its majority, the DA can confirm that it will instruct its attorneys to immediately send a letter of demand to the president to demand that he refer the expropriation bill back to the National Assembly for reconsideration of its constitutionality.”
“In terms of the constitution, the president must refer a bill back to the National Assembly where constitutional concerns exist..”
Welcome step
Matthew Parks, acting national spokesperson of Cosatu, a key labour ally of the governing ANC, said the labour federation welcomed the adoption of the bill, casting it as a “necessary legislative overhaul of the existing 1975 Expropriation Act drafted during the darkest days of apartheid”.
“The eventual passage into law of the bill will mark a historic victory for the working class, the dispossessed and the downtrodden. It will be a welcome step towards honouring the ANC’s 2019 elections manifesto commitment to accelerate government’s efforts to ensure all South Africans have equal access to land, water and other natural resources,” Parks said.
“The essence of this bill is that government may use expropriation, including where relevant with full, partial or nil compensation; to support land reform, address the legacies of apartheid and the inequalities that still scar SA’s socioeconomic landscape.”
Cosatu urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to assent to this “fair, rational and pragmatic bill”, Parks said.
“We should not be swayed by opposition to the bill from hysterical, fringe, right-wing elements who stoked sensationalism on a matter requiring sobriety. Cosatu supports this long overdue bill.”