The drive to use the Eighteenth Amendment Bill to change Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation is not the result of legal considerations, but of political pressure and the perceived need by government to show that something tangible is actually being done.

These were the words of South African non-partisan think tank The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF), which on Thursday called for the scrapping of the Bill, citing that government was trying to use a perceived shortcoming in the Constitution as a convenient excuse for its lack of progress on land reform.

Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee to Initiate and Introduce Legislation Amending Section 25 of the Constitution, yesterday reminded stakeholders of the fast approaching Friday deadline for comments on the Bill.

The HSF had submitted its comments to Parliament and on Thursday called for the Bill to be withdrawn.

It pointed out that the Constitution already made provision for expropriation without compensation and added that a lack of political will was hindering the implementation of an effective land reform policy.

“The government’s land reform efforts have been beset with corruption, inefficiency and incompetence. It has been a failure. In the words of a recent Constitutional Court judgment on the activities of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, ‘… it has displayed a patent incapacity or inability to get the job done’”, said the HSF.

Meanwhile, the Southern African Agri Initiative (Saai) has also submitted its comments on the Bill, saying it recognised the African National Congress’s purpose in amending the Constitution was to make explicit that which is implicit.

However, it focused on the international legal aspect and the matter of zero compensation. It asserted that it would oppose any changes to the Constitution that would allow for expropriation without compensation.

Saai wants South Africa to commit itself to the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as to the principles included in its commercial agreements.

Saai also requested that the Constitution should pertinently specify that it cannot be expected of individuals that they carry the cost of a national responsibility.

Saai is planning a strong international awareness campaign for 2020, highlighting land expropriation without compensation and farm murders. It said the first leg of the campaign comprised a visit to the Hungarian government and the Global Forum for Food and Agriculture in Berlin, in Germany.