Zuma’s latest pronouncement on land reform raises questions

President Jacob Zuma on Sunday announced that the government will use the 1975 Expropriation Act to pursue land reform and land redistribution with greater speed and urgency.

It is unclear how government will achieve land redistribution using the 1975 act‚ which provides only for the expropriation of property for a public purpose‚ such as for roads and power lines.

Parliament last year passed the Expropriation Bill‚ which was to replace the 1975 act‚ but Zuma did not sign the bill into law.

The bill‚ drafted in 2015‚ provided for the expropriation of property for a public purpose or in the public interest‚ to speed up land reform.

In July‚ Zuma asked the speaker of the National Assembly and the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCoP) to advise him on the process followed by Parliament in passing the bill.

Zuma said he had received petitions against the signing of the bill into law from individuals and various organisations.

The petitions raised a number of procedural issues‚ which included that the NCoP had failed to facilitate sufficient consultation with the public prior to the adoption of the bill.

The DA said in its petition last year that the bill violated the Constitution with specific reference to the right to property and the right not to be evicted without an order of the court.

In his address to the ANC, Zuma said the Constitution allowed for the expropriation of land for a public purpose and in the public interest.

"This year‚ we shall begin to utilise the Expropriation of Land Act to pursue land reform and land redistribution‚ with greater speed and urgency‚ following the prescripts of our Constitution."

Zuma said it was important that the government carefully planned the utilisation of land in urban areas and rural communities.

"Haphazard land grabs will have a negative effect on our ability to plan for the productive use of the land‚" Zuma said.

TMG Digital