President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Expropriation Bill, bringing the ideological divergence in the government of national unity (GNU) into its sharpest focus yet as the DA expressed opposition and mooted a possible legal challenge.
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya announced on Thursday that Ramaphosa had signed the bill “which repeals the predemocratic Expropriation Act of 1975 and sets out how organs of state may expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons”.
The new law, which has been two decades in the making, could be hailed as a victory for social justice as it aims to address the deep-seated land inequalities that have plagued SA since the colonial and apartheid eras.
Still, Ramaphosa’s move could pit him against his GNU partners, including the DA, who have flagged the bill as a redline issue in its participation in the government, and business leaders, his biggest cheerleaders, who have argued the law undermines property rights and could deter investment.
“While the DA recognises that the constitution allows for acts of redress and restitution, including land reform, we have serious reservations about the procedure as well as important substantive aspects of the bill,” the DA MPs Willie Aucamp and Karabo Khakhau said in a statement. “We are in discussions with our legal team to formulate our case,”
The new legislation is one of the faultlines in the GNU. The ANC and DA are already at odds over the Basic Education Laws Amendment Act, which the former views as a crucial step to ensure equitable access to quality education while the latter argues that it disempowers school governing bodies.
The National Health Insurance Act is another policy that has polarised the GNU.
The land expropriation bill’s passage comes while economists from major banks, including the Bank of America, and other business leaders have expressed cautious optimism about the GNU stability, saying it sets a positive tone for economic recovery. The mood in corporate boardrooms was at its highest since 2015 in November, according to SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) business confidence index.
The latest development may raise the prospect of bringing the ANC and EFF closer as the two parties had attempted to form a unified voice in parliament during the previous administration but talks fell apart over the wording of the bill.
The bill was initially approved by the cabinet in 2004 but underwent review processes before the president gave it the green light 20 years later with several safeguards to ensure the seizure of land is in the public interest and requires expropriating authorities to attempt to reach an agreement with property owners before resorting to expropriation.
Disputes can be solved through mediation or the courts.
“The bill, which has undergone a five-year process of public consultation and parliamentary deliberation, aligns legislation on expropriation with the constitution,” Magwenya said.
“Section 25 of the constitution recognises expropriation as an essential mechanism for the state to acquire someone’s property for a public purpose or in the public interest, subject to just and equitable compensation being paid,” he said.
The bill stipulates: “To provide for the expropriation of property for a public purpose or in the public interest; to provide for certain instances where expropriation with nil compensation may be appropriate in the public interest; and to provide for matters connected therewith.”
Magwenya said the government had been relying on the Expropriation Act of 1975 for such purposes.
“Local, provincial and national authorities will use this legislation to expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons that seek, among others, to promote inclusivity and access to natural resources,” he said.
The Rise Mzansi and GOOD parties, both members of the GNU, welcomed the signing, saying the new law articulated the circumstances under which nil compensation would be just and equitable.
“It is not the loaded gun to chase landowners into the sea that opponents to the bill projected it to be,” GOOD said in a statement.
“Colonial and apartheid land grabs, never reversed, are a major contributing factor to the state of acute inequality in our land today. Historically excluded from land ownership, the vast majority of citizens remain excluded today because they can’t afford the price of entering the property market.
“Their exclusion from the property market means they lack tangible assets to leverage cash from the financial sector, which leads to their economic exclusion. It’s a cruel and vicious cycle,” GOOD said.
Rise Mzansi cautioned against misrepresenting the law as a licence for illegal land grabs.
“The law, as per the constitution, allows for the state to expropriate land in an orderly manner for public interest or for public purpose, for example, to build housing, the construction of roads and other public and economic infrastructure, as was done with the construction of the Gautrain.”
Update: January 23 2025
This story has been updated with more information and reaction.
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