The South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has approved a bill permitting the government to acquire land without compensating the owners, a move viewed as a potential threat to private land ownership by some government officials.
This new law, which supersedes the Expropriation Act of 1975 from pre-democratic times, sets out the process and criteria for state expropriation, as reported by the BBC.
Ramaphosa’s political party, the African National Congress (ANC), lauds this legislation as a “significant achievement.” Nonetheless, certain government members have indicated their intention to contest the legality of this measure.
Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2023 (Xabiso Mkhabela/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“Expropriation may not be exercised unless the expropriating authority has without success attempted to reach an agreement with the owner or holder of a right in property for the acquisition thereof on reasonable terms,” he added.
The Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-largest party in the government, said it “strongly opposes” the law and was consulting with its lawyers.
It says that while it supports legislation addressing land restitution, it takes issue with the process followed by the country’s parliament to enact the law, the BBC report states.
South Africa’s ANC party has fielded candidates facing corruption charges. (Reuters/Mike Hutchings)
The Freedom Front Plus party, which defends the rights of South Africa’s White minority, vowed to challenge the law and do “everything in its power” to have it amended if it is found to be unconstitutional.
