South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has enacted a new law that enhances the state’s capacity to expropriate land in the public interest, as long as equitable compensation is provided.
The Expropriation Act, updating legislation originally from 1975, will take effect after five years of parliamentary debates and public consultations, and it is in line with the country’s constitution, as stated by the presidency on Thursday.
Read: National Assembly backs Draft Expropriation Bill
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The law “clarifies the procedures for expropriation and the required criteria,” the statement emphasized. “This legislation will assist all levels of government—local, provincial, and national—in expropriating land” for various purposes, such as promoting inclusivity and improving access to natural resources.
The African National Congress (ANC), South Africa’s largest political party, proposed amendments to the constitution in 2017 to streamline the expropriation process, aiming to rectify historical disparities in land ownership caused by colonialism and apartheid.
Nevertheless, legal experts argued that expropriation was already permitted under the existing constitution, prompting the ANC to drop its amendment proposals in 2021 due to lacking support from opposition parties. They instead opted to pursue legislative avenues to fulfill their land redistribution objectives.
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