President Zuma needs to send job-killing Expropriation Bill back to Parliament
25 July 2016
President Jacob Zuma’s request for further information from both Houses of Parliament on the process followed in the passing of the controversial, job-killing Expropriation Bill in Parliament is tacit acknowledgement on his part that this Bill has major Constitutional problems.
We trust that this is a legitimate first step by the President in sending this Bill back to Parliament, in line with the Section 79 petition the DA sent him last month.
This petition followed advice from our lawyers that the Bill is unconstitutional, both in its content, but also because of the procedural irregularities which characterised its passing.
We now urge the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chair of the National Council of Provinces to be fully transparent in their compliance with this request. This information must be tabled in both Houses’ parliamentary papers so that all MPs can scrutinise the details.
This Bill, in its current form, violates the Constitution with specific reference to the right to property and the right not to be evicted without an order of the court as distilled in sections 25 & 26(3) of the Constitution respectively.
Additionally the Bill was met with fatal procedural errors because it was not passed in a manner consistent with the Constitution. It needs to be subjected to more public consultation, and must adhere to the mandating and voting procedures in the Provincial Legislatures and the NCOP.
The DA has fought relentlessly throughout the duration of the fifth Parliament to ensure that bills are passed in line with the Constitution. Though we have been met with much resistance from the ANC at every turn, we will continue to do everything possible to protect the principle of constitutionalism.
This Bill will also hurt an economy that is on the brink of a recession. The end result will be even greater job losses, and less investment in our communities. This cannot be accepted, when 8.9 million South Africans are unemployed.
Jacob Zuma must send the Bill back to Parliament and let MPs fix it, once and for all.
Issued by Anchen Dreyer, DA Caucus Chairperson, 25 July 2016
