Land draft Bill by December

The draft Bill to amend section 25 of the constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation “should be ready by mid-December”, National Assembly house chairperson Cedric Frolick said yesterday.

Frolick said the ad hoc committee assigned to amending the constitution would complete its overall task by next March.

“The committee has undertaken to embark on a number of initiatives,” Frolick said. “This includes involving local and international experts in its work, possibly in November, and then embarking on public engagement in and outside parliament.”

Frolick said the committee would also take into consideration all official reports on the matter including those of the joint constitutional review committee, its own report, the panel report chaired by acting president Kgalema Motlanthe, and the presidential advisory panel on land reform and agriculture.

Once the draft Bill was ready, Frolick said the Bill would be gazetted and then the public would have the rest of January to comment. Once these had been received, the committee would reconvene to consider the public submissions and there may be public hearings again before its handing over of the draft Bill to parliament.

According to The Citizen, Motlanthe criticised parliament’s response to the report, which he said explained that the constitution clearly outlined the rules around expropriation of land without compensation.