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Notice

Expropriation Bill notice

The Expropriation Bill

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STATEMENTS FROM OTHER ORGANISATIONS

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WHEREAS section 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, provides as follows:

‘‘Property”

25. (1) No one may be deprived of property except in terms of law of general application, and no law may permit arbitrary deprivation of property.

(2) Property may be expropriated only in terms of law of general application—
(a) for a public purpose or in the public interest; and
(b) subject to 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.

(3) The amount of the compensation and the time and manner of payment must be just and equitable, reflecting an equitable balance between the public interest and the interests of those affected, having regard to all relevant circumstances, including—
(a) the current use of the property;
(b) the history of the acquisition and use of the property;
(c) the market value of the property;
(d) the extent of direct state investment and subsidy in the acquisition and beneficial capital improvement of the property; and
(e) the purpose of the expropriation.

(4) For the purposes of this section—
(a) the public interest includes the nation’s commitment to land reform, and to reforms to bring about equitable access to all South Africa’s natural resources; and
(b) property is not limited to land.

(5) The state must take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis.

(6)A person or community whose tenure of land is legally insecure as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices is entitled, to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to tenure which is legally secure or to comparable redress.

(7) A person or community dispossessed of property after 19 June 1913 as a result of past racially discriminatory laws or practices is entitled, to the extent provided by an Act of Parliament, either to restitution of that property or to equitable redress.

(8) No provision of this section may impede the state from taking legislative and other measures to achieve land, water and related reform, in order to redress the results of past racial discrimination, provided that any departure from the provisions of this section is in accordance with the provisions of section 36(1).

(9) Parliament must enact the legislation referred to in subsection (6).’’; and

WHEREAS section 33(1) of the Constitution provides that everyone has the right to administrative action that is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair; and

WHEREAS section 34 of the Constitution provides that everyone has the right to have any dispute that can be resolved by the application of law decided in a fair public hearing before a court or, where appropriate, another independent and impartial tribunal or forum; and

WHEREAS uniformity across the nation is required in order to deal effectively with these matters;

AND IN ORDER TO ENABLE expropriation in accordance with the Constitution,

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as follows:—

ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS

CHAPTER 1 — DEFINITIONS AND APPLICATION OF ACT
1. Definitions
2. Application of Act

CHAPTER 2 — POWERS OF MINISTER TO EXPROPRIATE
3. Powers of Minister to expropriate
4. Delegation or assignment of Minister’s powers and duties

CHAPTER 3 — INVESTIGATION AND VALUATION OF PROPERTY
5. Investigation and gathering of information for purposes of expropriation
6. Consultation with municipality during investigation

CHAPTER 4 — INTENTION TO EXPROPRIATE AND EXPROPRIATION OF PROPERTY
7. Notice of intention to expropriate
8. Notice of expropriation 9
. Vesting and possession of expropriated property
10. Verification of unregistered rights in expropriated property
11. Consequences of expropriation of unregistered rights and duties of expropriating authority

CHAPTER 5 — COMPENSATION FOR EXPROPRIATION
12. Determination of compensation
13. Interest on compensation
14. Requests for particulars
15. Payment of compensation
16. Property subject to mortgage or deed of sale
17. Payment of municipal property rates, taxes and other charges out of compensation money
18. Deposit of compensation money with Master

CHAPTER 6 — MEDIATION AND DETERMINATION BY COURT
19. Mediation and determination by court

CHAPTER 7 — URGENT EXPROPRIATION
20. Urgent expropriation

CHAPTER 8 — WITHDRAWAL OF EXPROPRIATION
21. Withdrawal of expropriation

CHAPTER 9 — RELATED MATTERS
22. Service and publication of documents and language used therein
23. Extension of time
24. Expropriation register
25. Offences and fines
26. Regulations
27. Regulations, legal documents and steps valid under certain circumstances
28. Interpretation of other laws dealing with expropriation
29. Repeal
30. Transitional arrangements and savings
31. Short title and commencement

Institute of Race Relations - IRR

IRR CALLS ON NCOP TO REJECT THE EXPROPRIATION BILL AND FULFIL ITS ROLE AS UPPER HOUSE

Feb 08, 2023

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has called on the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), in particular its Select Committee on Transport, Public Service and Administration, Public Works and Infrastructure, to reject the Expropriation Bill, which was adopted by the National Assembly in September 2022.

The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has called on the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), in particular its Select Committee on Transport, Public Service and Administration, Public Works and Infrastructure, to reject the Expropriation Bill, which was adopted by the National Assembly in September 2022.

The NCOP is the upper house of Parliament, and the National Assembly the lower. Both houses must approve legislation before it can become law. The National Assembly failed to heed numerous and sustained warnings from civil society regarding the dangers represented by the Bill.

Since 2008 when the Expropriation Bill was first mooted, the IRR has warned of the risks to property rights, and thus the prosperity built upon property rights, that would result should the Bill be adopted. The Bill remains dangerous today, despite repeated revisions over 15 years.

Among other things, the Bill makes it significantly easier for government to expropriate property, and more difficult for property owners – whether farmers, businesspeople, or homeowners – to protect themselves against expropriation. Most contentiously, the Bill makes provision for so-called ‘expropriation without compensation’, an unconstitutional phenomenon incompatible with human flourishing.

If adopted, the Bill’s presence in the statute book could spell disaster for economic growth, foreign investment, and the delicate balance of power between government and civil society.

‘Upper houses in legislatures are designed to act as a brake on the often reckless passions of lower houses, which is why they are rarely directly elected. They are forums for calm reconsideration of what the lower house might have deemed an open-and-shut case,’ says Martin van Staden, IRR Deputy Head of Policy Research.

‘The Expropriation Bill is a textbook example of a harmful policy adopted for reasons of political expediency and for the incumbent government to take as much undeserved power away from civil society as it can. Society stands to gain nothing from the Bill’s adoption and to lose much. It is in these textbook examples where upper houses must intervene and restore measured sanity,’ adds Van Staden.

The IRR is in the process of preparing a formal submission to the Select Committee. View the IRR’s previous submission (to the National Assembly’s Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure) on the same Bill, as well as the IRR’s campaign to stop the Bill, here: https://irr.org.za/campaigns/stop-the-expropriation-bill
Media contact: Martin van Staden, Deputy Head of Policy Research – 079 501 3522; martinvs@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za
Sinalo Thuku, Tel: 073 932 8506 Email: sinalo@irr.org.za