The Ad Hoc Committee (the committee) responsible for drawing up a land expropriation-without-compensation (EWC) constitutional amendment bill (the bill) was supposed to meet last Friday to debate the wording of the bill on a clause-by-clause basis.

There is a growing body of evidence that shows that strategic partnerships and alternative funding models are necessary for a successful land reform programme that will stimulate the rural economy and extricate millions of people from the clutches of poverty. 

The topic of land ownership in South Africa has always been one of emotion and controversy.

Today, 31 May 2021, is the deadline for the Ad Hoc committee tasked with the amendment of section 25 of the Constitution to complete their work.

Die verdere voorgestelde wysigings aan artikel 25 van die Grondwet deur die ANC – kort voor die spertyd – is niks anders as ‘n poging om die EFF te paai voor die verkiesing nie.

Seven years ago, back in 2014, the IRR warned that the ANC would seek to nationalise all the country’s land without compensation.

Investors rattled by the drive to expropriate land without compensation will only likely know the final details of the proposed amendment to section 25 of the constitution or the property clause at the end of June.

This is pursued through two distinct processes: an amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution, and the new Expropriation Bill to replace the Act of 1975, which has been in the making for a couple of years.

One of the common expressions of derision in our political lexicon is the ‘tickbox exercise’.

Land Reform: In the backdrop of a sluggish economy that does not create enough jobs for a growing number of unemployed youth, government and the private sector need to work in concert to develop and implement strategies that are anchored around harnessing the land reform programme to generate employment opportunities.

Section 25 of the Bill of Rights – Chapter 2 of our supreme law, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa – sets out the parameters within which the right to property is respected and protected by the state.

The Draft Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill is so damaging that it must simply be abandoned.

Response written by Mark Philip Malcolm Horn - London Barrister. * No one does business with a thief, and no one extends credit to a thief.

The failure of the ANC and EFF to agree on the form of the proposed amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution has led some optimists to conclude that this is the moment in which the EFF is isolated and abandoned. 

 An inclusive land reform programme will enable equitable economic participation of all members of the community – creating jobs and improving living conditions.

The ANC’s irrational attempt to amend the Constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation is indicative of the political problems the party is experiencing within its electorate, a thoughtless leadership that has already coxswained South Africa into an economic marshland, and of a lack of insight and awareness of the international consequences for trade, diplomatic relations and investor confidence. 

The government is working with the agricultural sector to support and manage address challenges that women face in the industry, agriculture, land reform and rural development minister Thoko Didiza said.

In 2020, the South African government approved a women empowerment policy proposing that roughly 50% of the allocation of agricultural farming land under the Redistribution Programme should be for women, 40% for youth, and 10% for people living with disabilities.

Public discussion around the proposed amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution – in pursuit of Expropriation without Compensation (EWC) – has not been limited to the substance of the changes, or to their probable impact. 

Government’s proposed land expropriation without compensation initiative threatens to jeopardise food security, dissuade investment and will have a profoundly negative impact on South Africa’s economy.