Bigwigs serve on committee to amend Constitution
NATIONAL Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has named parliamentarians who will serve on the ad hoc committee to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for expropriation of land without compensation.
The announcement of the adhoc committee members comes almost two months after the National Assembly agreed to set up such a committee.
Yesterday, Mbete named ANC parliamentarians to serve on the committee as deputy chairperson of committees Thoko Didiza, former joint co-chairpersons of the constitutional review committee Vincent Smith, Stanford Maila, Phumzile “PJ” Mnguni, Letta Maseko and Rosina Maseko. They will serve as the party’s voting members on the committee.
The DA representatives will be Annelie Lotriet and Thandeka Mbabama who will be the party’s voting members while Glynnis Breytenbach and Leon Magwebu would be non-voting members.
The EFF has sent its bigwigs to serve on the committee. Party leader Julius Malema is a voting member while his deputy Floyd Shivambu is a non-voting member.
Other parties will be represented by the IFP’s Mzamo Buthelezi and Russel Cebekhulu.
The ad hoc committee originates from a resolution taken by the National Assembly to set up a constitu- tional review committee to investigate whether land could be expropriated without compensation.
The committee had recommended the review of Section 25 of the Constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation after holding nationwide public hearings in all nine provinces and in Parliament.
The committee’s report was adopted in December with 183 MPs voting in its favour while 77 others opposed it. There were no abstentions.
The report was backed by ANC, EFF, UDM, NFP, AIC and APC, which had supported the motion for amending the Constitution.
Other parties such as the DA, IFP, FF Plus, Cope and ACDP did not support the report and the recommendation of the constitutional review committee, citing among others procedural flaws in the process that was followed.
The ad hoc committee is expected to report on its work of initiating and introducing the amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution by March 31.
But, there are already indications that the committee will not meet the deadline amid campaigning by parties for the elections to be held in May, and Parliament is finalising its business for the term on March 20.
Meanwhile, Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi published a revised draft bill on expropriation for public comment in the Government Gazette on December 21. The public and interested persons have until end of February to make submissions.