Expropriation Bill caught between a rock and a hard place

26 July 2016

AfriBusiness welcomes the recent news that President Jacob Zuma has referred the controversial Expropriation Bill back to Parliament, requesting that they advise him on the process followed in adopting the bill. This comes after AfriBusiness, together with other civil organisations, submitted petitions to the presidency in June 2016 to not sign the bill into law. AfriBusiness challenged the substance of the bill, as well as the process that led to its acceptance.

Armand Greyling, Law and Policy Analyst, said that Zuma is correct in being cautious of signing the bill into law, as there seems to be discrepancies in the public participation processes utilised by both the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and the National Council of Provinces.

To ascertain the constitutionality of the bill, AfriBusiness has obtained the legal opinions of three of the country’s top advocates. Their conclusions were that certain aspects of the bill might not line up with the objectives of the Constitution and could, therefore, be tested in a court of law. In summary, Zuma is correct in giving heed to the warnings from submissions made to the presidency, and AfriBusiness will be looking forward to Parliament’s answers to the presidency regarding the process followed towards the bill’s acceptance.

Issued by Armand Greyling, Law and Policy Analyst, AfriBusiness, 26 July 2016