Race to get land Bill ready ahead of deadline

Speaker Baleka Mbete is racing to get Parliament to finalise the Restitution of Land Rights Bill in time for the deadline ordered by the Constitutional Court, says a Weekend Argus report. The court directed Parliament two years ago to finalise the Bill in July after it had referred it back to the legislature because of its constitutional invalidity. The National Assembly’s Rural Development and Land Reform chair, Phumzile Ngwenya-Mabila, is quoted as saying Parliament's legal advisers were dealing with the matter. ‘We went to the Speaker and she referred the matter to the legal unit. After that process we have to go to the National Council of Provinces for further processes ...to provinces for public hearings,’ said Ngwenya-Mabila. She expressed confidence the legal advisers would meet the deadline. However, she said there was still a grace period of two months after next month’s deadline to finalise the Bill. But they could seek an extension from the Constitutional Court after the two-month grace period granted had lapsed if required.