Article
Land reform: Status update
Published: 29/11/2018
On 15 November 2018 the Constitutional Review Committee made the recommendation that section 25 of the Constitution should be amended to ‘clarify’ that section 25 of the Constitution does make provision for expropriation without compensation. At this time the conditions under which this may happen are still unknown as Parliament is yet to draft and consult on the exact wording of the proposed amendment.
On 15 November 2018 the Constitutional Review Committee made the recommendation that section 25 of the Constitution should be amended to ‘clarify’ that section 25 of the Constitution does make provision for expropriation without compensation. At this time the conditions under which this may happen are still unknown as Parliament is yet to draft and consult on the exact wording of the proposed amendment.
Of critical importance now is the Constitutional Amendment Bill or parliamentary motion that will need to be drafted and the detail that it contains on the conditions under which land expropriation without compensation will be given effect. Agbiz will engage on this Bill, as well as make oral submissions to Parliament. Expropriation is however merely one element of the broader land reform debate. There are several outstanding issues which predate the expropriation debate and which are not finalised as of yet. These elements will be outlined in this document as they are vital to the success or failure of land reform in South Africa, and Agbiz is represented on a number of platforms where the outcomes of these processes will be decided.
This document is intended to place the latest developments on expropriation into context and to provide an overview of the broader direction in which land reform is moving.