2oceansvibe News | South African and international news When the ANC wants to push something through, like an amendment or a bill, without a lot of pushback, they tend to release it for public comment over the festive season.
Everyone is busy and on holiday, and probably taking a break from the rollercoaster ride that is South African politics.
The most controversial bill to hit the headlines last year was without a doubt the land expropriation bill, which would amend section 25 of the Constitution, dubbed the property clause.
In November, the draft bill hit a bit of a legal snafu when Department of Trade & Industry officials pointed out that expropriating land owned by foreign nationals could contravene existing bilateral investment treaties, which could result in South Africa being denied access to key overseas markets.
Regardless, the draft bill was forged, and as is customary when something doesnât have the full support of the nation, was released for public comment on December 6, when everyone was preparing to go on leave.
It has now come to light, per BusinessTech, that the ANC does not support one of the key clauses in the land expropriation bill, which would give the courts the power to determine which land should be taken without compensation.
This particular clause is important because the bill does not specify under what circumstances land can be expropriated.
This is section 25 as it currently stands:
(2) Property may be expropriated only in terms of law of general application-
(b) subject to compensation, the amount of which and the time and manner of payment of which have either been agreed to by those affected or decided or approved by a court.
And this is the proposed amendment:
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.
Hereâs Chairperson of Parliamentâs ad-hoc committee on the constitutional amendment, Mathole Motshekga:
âWe had to select a formulation that would be acceptable to all the political parties so that we donât derail the process. But that formulation is subject to engagement by political parties and the people of South Africa as a whole.