The Democratic Alliance (DA) has asked the Western Cape High Court for an order that will nullify the Expropriation Act in its current form, saying the Act is “unconstitutional, substantively and procedurally”.

Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the controversial Expropriation Act, which allows for land expropriation without compensation in certain circumstances.

The Act has been met with criticism from opposition parties, civil society organisations and US President Donald Trump.

DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said the process of adopting the Act did not conform to the Constitution, noting that five out of the seven provinces that voted for the Act in the National Council of Provinces did so without obtaining a provincial mandate in the manner prescribed by law and regulations.

Zille also pointed out that the Act was “vague and contradictory” in several clauses, which she said rendered it unconstitutional.

She said during the process in the previous Parliament to pass the Act, the DA was unequivocal.

“…we reject this Act, because we believe that no government in a democratic country should be given such sweeping powers to expropriate property without compensation,” she explained.

She highlighted that apart from compelling legal shortcomings, the DA strongly opposed the substance of the Act, which she said sought to fulfil the mandate of the African National Congress’s (ANC’s) elective conference in 2017, which mandated the party to include expropriation without compensation as an instrument of law.

Zille said after the DA defeated the ANC’s plan to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to enable expropriation without compensation, amending this Act became a "blunt instrument of ANC majoritarianism in the last Parliament".

“There are at least three other Acts that deal with restitution for injustices of the past that give meaning to Section 25 of the Constitution, and where the DA governs, we are facilitating just and fair compensation in terms of these laws – the Restitution of Land Rights Act, and two Land Reform Acts,” she added.

She noted that her party rejects the ANC trying to “smuggle in further powers” of expropriation without compensation in an Act that is meant to provide for expropriation in circumstances where the State needs to develop infrastructure such as roads, railways and dams.

“Every country has legislation to ensure that the State can, with fair compensation, build public infrastructure, but this Act goes too far outside of these accepted international norms,” she added.

In the passage and signature of the Expropriation Act, the ANC wanted to dramatically widen the purview of expropriation, and keep the window for land restitution open indefinitely, Zille claimed.