Land grabbing – Property owners are protected

Amending the constitution to expropriate land without compensation is a trending topic of most conversations these days.

Some believe it will be highly controversial to deprive people of their property rights, others expressed concern about how this will influence farmers and food security, and ordinary citizens say they fear the confiscation of their property under such an amendment.

WITBANK NEWS visited local lawyer, Mr Jaco le Roux for more insight into what right a property owner in South Africa has.

“It must be remembered that currently Section 25 (1) of the constitution still provides protection for each property owner and only until such an amendment to the constitution is approved will these rights be affected. Such an amendment will most likely take years as South Africa’s entire legal jurisprudence on property ownership is affected fundamentally. This intended change further has an impact on other legislation that will have to be duly considered, which include but isn’t restricted to National Credit Act and Expropriation Act, which contemplates just and equitable compensation for expropriation,” Le Roux said.

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The rights protected in terms of Section 25 of the constitution include the owner’s right to claim his or her property as his or her own.
Currently the only allowed expropriation is in terms of law of general application for public purposes and public interest and subject to compensation as set out within Section 25 (2) of the constitution.

Mr Jaco le Roux.

“Therefore, and in terms of the constitution, landowners are protected against expropriation without compensation, even from the state,” Le Roux said.

He said if any person unlawfully trespasses and or unlawfully occupies your property you need to inform the police to have them immediately removed and/or arrested.

“This must be done as a matter of urgency to prevent the unlawful occupiers from erecting structures. Once a structure has been erected, there is a sense of permanency which will entail that the owner will be forced to approach a court either on an urgent basis or in terms of the Prevention of Illegal Eviction and Unlawful Occupation (Act 19 of 1998), also known as the PIE Act if occupiers are using the land for residential purposes.”

If there exists an imminent threat of illegal occupants that will trespass and/or occupy your property, one can further approach the relevant court for an urgent interdict to prevent same. This would simplify the matter for the police as contravention of such an interdict will most likely be construed as contempt of court and the illegal occupiers will be arrested.

It is therefore evident that one needs to act as soon as possible, as failure can lead to a considerable delay and costly litigation.