Parliament vs AfriForum

Parliament has filed an answering affidavit to AfriForum’s application in the Western Cape High Court on expropriation of land without compensation, asking the court to strike the application from the roll with punitive costs, parliament said yesterday.

AfriForum’s application seeks to have the report of the joint constitutional review committee on amending section 25 of the constitution, which deals with land expropriation, set aside.

In the affidavit, parliament argued that AfriForum was trying to frustrate parliament’s legislative processes. The report, which the committee adopted and would refer to the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces for consideration, was an interim step, similar to a Bill. It may be accepted or it may not, parliament said.

The committee embarked on an extensive public participation process at public hearings in each of the nine provinces and meetings and workshops at parliament. This was an additional prelegislative step before introducing a Bill.

After a decision by parliament, a Bill may be introduced. At that stage, parliament would again invite further public comments in terms of parliament’s constitutional obligations, it added.

“In essence, AfriForum wants to interdict parliament, at this stage, because it alleges the committee should have considered each submission, including those it admits are duplicate submissions.

“The committee did not exclude any submissions except those that were enquiries, unrelated, blank or repeats.” – ANA