The FF Plus rejects the latest version of the Draft Expropriation Bill that was released by the Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, and the party will voice its objection to it in every possible way.
The FF Plus finds the mere acceptance of the principle of expropriation without compensation (EWC) utterly unacceptable despite the fact that certain categories for land expropriation without compensation are put forward in the Bill.
Once the principle of EWC is accepted, it would be very easy to amend the categories set out in the legislation with a simple majority vote in Parliament.
The categories put forward for EWC, including, for example, land held for purely speculative purposes, will surely have a detrimental effect on the property market. Another category, namely land occupied or used by a labour tenant, is also concerning and creates uncertainty as it may prompt land owners to get rid of labour tenants.
Earlier, when the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee for Public Works withdrew the Amendment Bill on Expropriation in Parliament, the FF Plus warned that the ANC was attempting to rush the process of EWC seeing as the process requires that once the Constitution is amended, EWC must be executed through normal legislation.
It is, therefore, clear that the ANC will not be deterred by summits and suggestions from the agricultural sector regarding how to speed up land reform. It seems as if the ANC is determined to merely push on and amend the Constitution and implement legislation to make provision for EWC.
Releasing the amended proposals just before Christmas and during the holiday season creates the impression that the government hopes to quietly slip the amendments through without affording the public a proper opportunity to comment on it.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Dr Pieter Groenewald on FF Plus
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