Amending constitution on "shaky grounds" for expropriation will cause illegitimacy – FMF
Removing the right to compensation, as currently contained in section 25 of the Constitution, when expropriating property will be a "lethal blow" to the legitimacy and stability of constitutional order if done under present conditions, think tank Free Market Foundation (FMF) tank says.
The governing African National Congress (ANC) has signalled plans to amend the Constitution to allow for acquisition of land for redistribution without paying compensation.
FMF legal researcher Martin van Staden said negotiations in the 1990s had led to a constitutional order "that is today widely accepted, and acceptable".
"Expropriation without compensation will change this in a very fundamental and dangerous way," van Staden said.
He denounced an announcement that the Constitutional Review Committee set up to look into expropriation would only consider a “sample” 400 submissions out of thousands submitted.
"Hundreds of thousands of ordinary South Africans and civil society groups poured untold hours, effort, and resources into their submissions to parliament, only to receive a nonchalant response from the committee telling them to get lost," he said.
"This is the most important constitutional moment in South African history after the adoption of the Constitution itself, yet Parliament hopes to wrap it all up in under a year; hopefully in time for the ruling party to brag about it in the upcoming elections."
Van Staden said if the government wanted expropriation in the Constitution to be truly harmless and legal, the language of the amendment should be specific and "circumscribed to an extent we have never before seen in South African legislative drafting".
The ANC and other political parties such as the Economic Freedom Fighters say land reforms are necessary to address ownership imbalances created when land was forcibly taken from blacks centuries ago by white settlers.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Showroom
ATI systems comprises five divisions: electrical assemblies, drives and controls, feedback sensors, enclosures, and strip guiding.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Your global lifecycle technology & service partner for materials & minerals processing equipment for coal, iron ore, copper, manganese & other...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
