The Democratic Alliance (DA) Federal Council said it will continue with its case challenging the constitutionality of the Expropriation Act in the High Court, reaffirming its longstanding position against expropriation of property without compensation.

The party’s Federal Council has unanimously approved the motion which confirms its support for Section 25 of the Constitution, but says just and equitable compensation adjudicated by a court of law must be paid for any expropriation.

The Act says property can be expropriated for a public purpose or in the public interest; and is subject to just and equitable compensation, the amount of which and the time and manner of payment of which, have either been agreed to by those affected or decided or approved by a court.

The controversial amendment explains that expropriation with nil compensation applies to land that is expropriated in the public interest, such as land that is not being used and where the owner’s main purpose is not to develop the land or use it to generate income, but to benefit from appreciation of its market value; State-held land not being used for its core functions and which the State is not reasonably likely to require for its future activities in that regard, and the State acquired the land for no consideration; land that an owner has abandoned by failing to exercise control over it despite being reasonably capable of doing so; and land where the market value is equivalent to, or less than, the present value of direct State investment or subsidy in the acquisition and beneficial capital improvement of the land.

In February, the DA filed papers in the High Court to challenge the recently signed Expropriation Act, saying it is “unconstitutional, both substantively and procedurally”.

“Acknowledging that secure private property rights under the rule of law are essential to fixed investment, economic growth, job creation, and better living standards for the people of South Africa, the Democratic Alliance asserts our support that compensation must be just and equitable, as adjudicated by a court of law, in cases of expropriation in terms of the Constitution,” reads the motion.

DA Federal Council chairperson Helen Zille said that the motion further rejects the notion of ‘nil compensation’ as established by the Expropriation Act, 2024 as well as the limitations placed by the Act on rights of private property owners in contesting the terms of expropriation in court.

She also pointed to the DA’s efforts to take the Expropriation Act on judicial review to explore opportunities to render it as “less of a risk” to private property rights.