Legislation: Expropriation Bill to be withdrawn

The Expropriation Bill is to be withdrawn from Parliament pending the outcome of the constitutional review process and a decision on whether an amended section 25 would serve the public interest more effectively in the context of accelerated land reform. This emerged during yesterday’s meeting of the National Assembly’s Public Works Committee, notes Pam Saxby for Legalbrief Policy Watch.  According to Deputy Minister Jeremy Cronin, ‘either way’ government will need to send a clear ‘signal’ to people ‘genuinely worried’ about the possibility of ‘Zimbabwe-style’ land grabs that the expropriation of land without compensation will only occur under ‘specific conditions’ rendering the use of such a measure ‘just and equitable’ – in keeping with section 36(1) of the Constitution (limitation of rights).

While it cannot be assumed that Parliament’s Constitutional Review Committee will recommend amendments to section 25, the Deputy Minister believes this is ‘likely’. A revised Expropriation Bill will then be prepared spelling out the circumstances in which land expropriation without compensation may be necessary, the procedures to be followed and the role of the courts in this process – drawing from provisions in the existing Bill seeking to ensure administrative justice. Cronin and his principals in government would apparently like to see a draft revised Bill released before the end of the year for public comment. However, should this be possible the ‘new’ Expropriation Bill will probably not be tabled until after next year’s general elections.

The Deputy Minister made a point of emphasising that, while the procedures to be followed and parlance used when a National Assembly committee requests that a piece of legislation before it is withdrawn may give the impression that the Bill concerned has been ‘rejected’, in this instance nothing could be further from the truth. He was referring to the ‘cross-political-party understanding’ reached yesterday among committee members of what government is trying to achieve. Cronin’s remarks were made against the backdrop of consensus that it would not be in the best interests of all South Africans to allow the existing Bill to continue its passage through Parliament in parallel with the constitutional review. The ANC study group on public works has since issued a media statement welcoming the move.