Photo by: Duane Daws
The Property Valuation Act – which would see an independent statutory body determining the purchase price of land sought by the State for expropriation – comes into effect on Saturday, August 1, President Jacob Zuma’s office said on Wednesday.
“The Act aims to, amongst others, provide for the establishment, functions and powers of the Office of the Valuer-General,” a statement from the presidency said.
“It will also provide for the regulation of the valuation of property that has been identified for land reform as well as property that has been identified for acquisition or disposal by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform.”
Zuma assented to the bill in June last year, after Parliament passed it amidst objections from the country’s biggest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance.
Government introduced the law to remove one of the biggest stumbling blocks to land reform in the country – the huge amounts of money it was forced to spend on compensating land owners as a result of the willing-buyer willing-seller principle.