Committee adopts report to allow for land expropriation without compensation

The joint constitutional review committee has adopted its report on amending Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.

The Constitutional Review Committee has today adopted its report on the amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution. The report will be forwarded to the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces for consideration #LandExpropriation

— Parliament of RSA (@ParliamentofRSA) November 15, 2018

The report will be forwarded to the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces for consideration.

This follows months of public hearings and hundreds of thousands of submissions on the emotive issue. The EFF also presented its recommendations which should be included in a draft report.

EFF leader Julius Malema read out the recommendation: “That section 25 of the Constitution must be amended to make explicit that which is implicit in the Constitution, with regards to the expropriation of land without compensation, as a legitimate option for land reform, so as to address the historic wrongs caused by the arbitrary dispossession of land, and in so doing ensure equitable access to land and further empower the majority of South Africans to be productive participants in ownership, food security, and agricultural reform programs.”

The proposed recommendation was supported by the African National Congress and National Freedom Party and when a vote was called, it passed with 12 votes to four.

Proposal put forward by @AnnelieLotriet MP during the Constitutional Review Committee meeting to consider the final report #LandExpropriation pic.twitter.com/tdGLnQCgzI

— Parliament of RSA (@ParliamentofRSA) November 15, 2018

A counter proposal on final recommendations by the Democratic Alliance was dismissed by the same vote margin. The party insisted that the section of the Constitution that dealt with property rights “adequately [allowed] for progressive land reform, restitution, and protection of tenure of security and land rights”.

– additional reporting, ANA

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