DA alerts Modise to Land Panel’s constitutional warning

1 August 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Speaker of Parliament, Thandi Modise, to alert Parliament to the stark warning given by the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land, that the proposed expropriation amendments to Section 25 of the Constitution would be inherently unconstitutional and would offend the foundational values of the Constitution. Our letter to the Speaker requests that sections of the final report of the Land Panel must be discussed and read into the record of the Ad Hoc Committee on Land.

We believe that the amendment of the Constitution would be a move that will condemn our economy to inevitable collapse.

The DA is unequivocal in its support of a legal and constitutionally outlined processes for land reform. The Constitution is not a barrier to land reform. The barriers to land reform have been and continue to be corruption, constrained budgets and a lack of political will. Amending the Constitution is nothing more than an attempt by the ANC to hide its failures in land redistribution and reform.

The following sections from page 72 of the final report by the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture clearly states that amending the Constitution to allow for land expropriation is in and of itself unconstitutional, and frankly unnecessary:

- “Without a constitutional amendment to section 25, the State is currently able and within its powers to expropriate land for land reform purposes, based on just and equitable compensation.”

- “If, however, the purpose of the amendment is to implement expropriation without compensation wholescale and without conditions, then such a motion would offend section 1 of the Constitution and would in effect, collapse the core underlying values of our Constitution.”

It is clear that the Constitution includes legitimate mechanisms for land redistribution, including expropriation without compensation, based on just and equitable compensation.

The DA believes that the courts must have more opportunities to determine what is just and equitable in terms of compensation. This will ensure that the vast corruption which has characterised land reform over the last 25 years, will be eradicated.

The DA requests as a matter of urgency that these facts be discussed thoroughly by the Ad Hoc Committee.

Issued by Glynnis Breytenbach, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, 1 August 2019