Cape Town - The Public Works and Infrastructure Committee has finally sent the contentious Expropriation Bill, with amendments, back to Parliament.
The Expropriation Bill (B23-2020) reviews the apartheid-era Expropriation Act 63 of 1975 and ensures that expropriation laws fall in line with the Constitution. It clarifies instances where expropriation may take place and on what basis.
A much-publicised expropriation draft law was passed by Parliamentarians in 2016, but former president Jacob Zuma sent it back to lawmakers the following year amid concerns that not enough public consultation had been done.
“The new bill’s public hearings took place in 2021, and as late as last Wednesday, submissions were still being filed in numbers through letters, WhatsApp messages and emails.
Public Works and Infrastructure committee chairperson ANC MP Nolitha Ntobongwana stressed that everyone had an opportunity to comment and that the window for submissions had now closed.
“This bill is interesting to everyone, but one thing we can all agree on is that the Act of 1975 has to be changed. We all agree.
“The ‘how’ part is how do we put in a certain clause as against a certain clause. The reality is that if there is anyone that says the Expropriation Bill must not be changed, that means that person remains in the past. We need to transform South Africans,” Ntobongwana said.
The committee’s report recommends to Parliament that it approves the amendments, consider minority views and adopts the bill. The majority of committee members agreed to all clauses of the bill, while the EFF and IFP rejected it.
EFF MP Annacleta Siwisa said her party rejected the bill on the grounds that there was a possibility of compensation towards those whose property is expropriated.
The DA sought amendments to certain clauses.
ANC MP Fani Mathebula asked that the bill be adopted next week so that the governing party could examine it.
Next week, the bill is expected to return to Parliament before going to the National Council of Provinces.