Deadline for submissions on land ownership looms

THE PUBLIC has until Friday, January 31 to make written submissions on amending section 25 of the Constitution.

Time is ticking for the public to make written submissions to the parliamentary ad hoc committee appointed to initiate and introduce legislation amending section 25 of the Constitution. The long-awaited draft bill has been published and the deadline of January 31.

Public participation is necessary to ensure a fair representation of different voices, as the country forges ahead in amending section 25 of the Constitution. It is important to not forget our civic duty. All key stakeholders and South Africans in general should commit some time to review the draft bill and prepare to engage with the parliamentary process before the closing deadline for public commentary on the bill.

Land ownership can be a vital source of capital, which opens personal credit markets, leads to investments in the land, provides a social safety net, and transfers wealth to the next generation.

Land constitutes the main asset from which the rural poor are able to derive a livelihood. Millions of families, although they toil on the land, do not enjoy ownership rights over it and are considered landless.

The condition of landlessness threatens the enjoyment of a number of fundamental human rights. Access to land is important for development and poverty reduction, but also often necessary for access to numerous economic, social and cultural rights, and as a gateway to many civil and political rights.

Therefore it is critical for South Africans to participate in the draft Bill. Let’s make our voices heard.

Since 1994 there have been only 17 amendment Bills proposing amendments to the Constitution, it is the first time that South Africa’s young democracy has to deal with an amendment to a right in the Bill of Rights. It is therefore vital to ensure meaningful public participation.

The amendment Bill essentially proposes the following: an amendment to section 25(2) of the Constitution, to provide that, in accordance with a new subsection 3A, “a Court may, where land and any improvements thereon are expropriated for the purposes of land reform, determine that the amount of compensation is nil.” The new subsection 25(3A) provides that “National legislation must, subject to subsections (2) and (3) set out specific circumstances where a court may determine that the amount of compensation is nil”.

In a nutshell, the proposed amendment provides that the court may determine that in certain specific circumstances, which have to be provided for in ordinary legislation, it will be just and equitable in terms of section 25(3) of the Constitution that the amount of compensation for expropriation of land and any improvements thereon for land reform will be nil.