DA in NCOP blocks deliberations on problematic Expropriation Bill

10 May 2016

Today the DA in the Select Committee on Economic and Business Development successfully delayed premature deliberations on provincial final mandates for the Expropriation Bill.

The Bill has been pushed through Parliament despite the DA’s objections in both Houses. As a result, there are a number of flaws both in procedure and substance – the detrimental implications for our local economy, land security, and foreign investment to name a few.

Of the nine final mandates that were scheduled for today’s Select Committee deliberation, only three were circulated to Members of Parliament ahead of the meeting; KwaZulu-Natal, the Northern Cape, and Western Cape’s.

Three (the Eastern Cape, North West, and Mpumalanga) of the remaining six were tabled at today’s meeting, despite not having been approved in their respective legislatures – rendering them invalid in terms of section 6 of the Mandating Procedures Act – along with other procedural flaws.

The DA believes these three should not have even been included in today’s deliberation and after raising our objections were able to have the deliberations delayed. 

We will table a minority report in the Select Committee outlining our various procedural and substantive objections, and write to the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Thandi Modise, raising our procedural objections.

The NCOP has a duty to thoroughly interrogate the legislation that comes before it and in terms of s 72(1)(a) of the Constitution facilitate sufficient public participation, and the DA will work tirelessly to ensure this duty has been fulfilled.

Issued by Elza Van Lingen, DA Leader in the NCOP, 10 May 2016