The Expropriation Act, What Now?

Issued by Christo van der Rheede on behalf of the FW de Klerk Foundation:

President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the Expropriation Bill into law after five years of extensive public participation – whether such participation was meaningful as required by law is another question. Now known as the Expropriation Act, 2020, this law allows organs of state – such as local, provincial and national authorities – to expropriate property for a public purpose or in the public interest. (Nothing noteworthy here as expropriation laws occur globally.) What is noteworthy is that the Act specifically states that it “may be just and equitable for nil compensation to be paid where land is expropriated in the public interest” (see section 12(3)). Colloquially called “expropriation without compensation”, or “EWC”, this is reiterated elsewhere in the Act (see section 12(4) etc.). The Expropriation Act, 2020 repeals the apartheid-era Expropriation Act, 1975.

According to the Presidency, this law is aligned with section 25 of the Constitution which states that no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property, while recognising that expropriation is a necessary mechanism that allows the state to acquire someone’s property (with property not being limited to land) for a public purpose or in the public interest. However, the Constitution explicitly states that such expropriation is subject to just and equitable compensation being paid by the state to the person whose property is being expropriated. Sections 25(5) and 25(8) of the Constitution requires the state to take reasonable legislative and other measures within its available resources to promote conditions that allow citizens to access land on an equitable basis. No provision of section 25 prevents the state from taking legislative and other measures to affect land, water, and related reform.

The Expropriation Act, 2020 should not be confused with previous attempts to….continue reading this article HERE.

Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi: {2004 – 2009} Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi held the position from 2004 to 2009. She was known for her focus on public service reform and improving the effectiveness of government operations. Fraser-Moleketi is a member of the ANC and has been actively involved in various social justice initiatives.