Expropriation vote expected by May next year

Lewis Nzimande, co-chairperson of the Constitutional Review Committee, anticipates the expected amendment to the Constitution to clarify expropriation of land without compensation will be brought to a vote before May 2019, according to Rapport. Asked whether the process would be concluded before the national elections next year, Nzimande said Parliament has mechanisms to speed up the process. The committee is set to receive a report on the public input on Thursday and then start deliberations to report back to the National Assembly by 28 September. If the committee decides a constitutional amendment is necessary – seen as a certainty by MPs and government leaders – the wording of the proposed amendment will become the focus in a new consultation process. Legal experts say the wording would dictate whether a two-thirds majority or 75% of the votes of MPs is necessary to approve the amendment. Theuns Eloff, of the FW de Klerk Foundation, says his organisation reserves the right to litigate on this issue. If the wording of the proposal affects any principles, such as non-racialism, contained in Chapter One of the Constitution, the foundation would demand a 75% vote. Professor Robert Vivian, of the University of the Witwatersrand, agrees that any wording that could infringe on Chapter One principles would require a 75% majority vote in the National Assembly.

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