Ramaphosa announces ANC will expropriate land without compensation

In a late-night press briefing, President Cyril Ramaphosa was due to address the nation on a number of apparently pressing matters.

The primary announcement was that the ruling party will be supporting an amendment to the constitution to make land expropriation without compensation legal.

He said that it had become “patently clear” that “the people” wanted expropriation without compensation to become “more explicit” in the constitution, to go beyond the current constitutional provisions for expropriation in the public interest.

He said the party would continue to follow parliamentary processes to change the law with the ultimate aim of increasing agricultural production, people’s access to land, and just and equitable redistribution, in a manner that would boost the economy.

He had earlier said that this was proof of democracy in action and was the ultimate effect of “what we have fought for”.

Ramaphosa said ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule would be providing further clarity and detail to media on Wednesday on what had been resolved at the party’s two-day lekgotla.

Although the party officially agreed to make land expropriation without compensation part of its policy at its elective conference in December, the party has been investigating the “modalities” of how this will be done, while parliament conducts public hearings into the issue after a motion was passed in parliament to change the constitution.

The ANC’s Twitter account said that he would be talking about the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) lekgotla resolutions taken, “particularly on land redistribution and a stimulus package for jobs and economic growth”.

Ramaphosa discussed the stimulus package too in the wake of news that unemployment has risen, with particularly the manufacturing sector shedding alarming numbers of jobs.

Earlier in the day, the party was updating followers about its lekgotla.