National Assembly passes bill for land expropriation without compensation

The Constitution 18th Amendment Bill, which provides for expropriation of land without compensation, was approved by the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The purpose of the expropriation bill is to repeal the existing Expropriation Act to provide a common framework in line with the constitution to guide the processes and procedures for the expropriation of property by the organs of state.

It further seeks to provide for certain instances where expropriation with nil compensation may be appropriate in the public interest.

The National Assembly said in a statement the portfolio committee on public works and infrastructure had engaged with the public, organised citizen groups, political parties and traditional leaders for their views on the bill.

It had further engagements with stakeholders, citizens and civil society organisations to listen to formal presentations on specific clauses of the bill. The committee further collected views from broader society through e-mail and WhatsApp to deepen its understanding of the views of the public.

The bill will now be sent to the National Council of Provinces for concurrence.

TimesLIVE earlier reported that the bill proposes an amendment of section 25(2)(b) of the constitution to read: “Subject to compensation, the amount of which and the time and manner of payment of which have either been agreed to by those affected or decided or approved by a court: Provided that where land and any improvements thereon are expropriated for purposes of land reform as contemplated in subsection 8, the amount of compensation may be nil.’’

It was reported the ad hoc committee indicated that proposed amendments under subsection 2 on “nil compensation” for expropriated land and any improvements should be read concurrently with subsection 3 of section 25, which makes provision for circumstances under which expropriation of land with zero compensation can take place.

Section 25(3) is amended to read: “The amount of the compensation as contemplated in subsection 2(b), and the time and manner of any payment, must be just and equitable, reflecting an equitable balance between the public interest and the interests of those affected, having regard to all relevant circumstances.

‘‘For the furtherance of land reform, national legislation must, subject to subsections 2 and 3, set out circumstances where the amount of compensation is nil,” proposes the bill.

TimesLIVE