DA to fight unconstitutional Expropriation Bill
24 March 2015
Today the Minister of Public Works, Thulas Nxesi, introduced and briefed the Portfolio Committee on Public Works on the latest version of the Expropriation Bill which remains unconstitutional. The DA will fight tooth and nail to ensure that this Bill is not bulldozed through Parliament in its current form.
The bill will have a disastrous impact on the lives of all South African's as it will inevitably lead to mass job losses as a direct result of a capital flight away from South Africa. The bill is a populist ANC ploy to garner votes in 2016 but its effects will be felt by ordinary, hardworking South African's for generations to come.
While the Bill has gone a long way to bring the Expropriation Act in line with the provisions of the Constitution, it has missed one of the most important affronts to the Constitution. Today, we are a constitutional democracy and laws have to meet constitutional muster. The state does not have unlimited power and the new Bill provides organs of state, as expropriating authorities, with powers which exceed those contained in the Constitution.
The DA opposes the Bill in its current form for a number of reasons, which include the following:
The Bill's definition of "public interest" permits expropriation of land and other natural resources which goes beyond the constitutional scope as according to section 25(4)(a) of the Constitution;
Section 8(1) of the Bill allows for the government, as the expropriating authority, to unilaterally decide to expropriate property which is inconsistent with section 34 of the Constitution which grants everyone the right of access to courts and further infringes section 26(3) of the Constitution which prohibits evicting someone from their home without an order of court;
Section 15(3) of the Bill allows for expropriation to occur without any actual agreement with regard to compensation and leaves it up to the claimant to take the matter to court which is inconsistent with section 25(2)(b) of the Constitution which states that expropriation may only occur once the amount of compensation and the time and manner of payment have either been agreed to or decided or approved by a court; and
Section 22(1) of the Bill allows the government to urgently expropriate land on a temporary basis for a period of up to 12 months which again infringes rights contained in section 26 and 34 of the Constitution.
Of equal concern, land may be expropriated at potentially less than the amount owed to a bank or other financial institution through a mortgage bond.
This places banks and property owners in a very difficult position where loans cannot be seen as properly secured.
The DA will push for careful and thorough consideration of this Bill to align it with our Constitutional order.
Importantly, at the appropriate stage in the legislative process the DA will insist on a clause by clause deliberation to ensure all problematic articles are removed and that the Bill is pulled in line with the Constitution.
We anticipate much resistance from the ANC in government but this is a fight for which the DA is prepared. The government cannot, on a whim, strip South Africans of their property or create situations where the economy will bleed money and thereby lead to a staggering economy which will lead to increased unemployment.
Statement issued by James Masango MP, DA Shadow Deputy of Public Works, March 24 2015
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