Land expropriation moves to the next stage after AfriForum fails in court

Minority rights group AfriForum has failed to halt a parliamentary report on land expropriation without compensation from heading to the National Assembly.

The Parliamentary Review Committee’s report on land expropriation, which endorses amendments to section 25 of the Constitution, will be debated and voted upon in the National Assembly next week Tuesday. This comes after AfriForum filed an urgent court application to have the Committee’s report reviewed.

On Friday, the Western Cape High Court dismissed AfriForum’s application.

AfriForum cites flawed parliamentary process

The issue of land expropriation without compensation has been a hot topic this year. The Constitutional Review Committee conducted an extensive public engagement process to gauge citizens’ concerns and hopes regarding land reform.

Before the process concluded, President Cyril Ramaphosa infamously announced his support of amending the Constitution to allow for land to be expropriated without compensation.

Yet, AfriForum’s main gripe with the report tabled by the Committee concerns written submissions which were allegedly ignored in favour of oral submissions garnered during the land expropriation roadshow. This alleged skewed process formed the foundation of AfriForum’s court bid.

According to the minority rights group, the Committee failed to engage with over 100 000 written submissions. AfriForum has also claimed that the Committee ignored legitimate claims made by concerned stakeholders during the final stages of the parliamentary process.

Land expropriation moves forward

While the parliamentary process still dictates that the report on Constitutional amendments in favour of land expropriation without compensation be debated in the National Assembly – the contentious issue, which has the propensity to seriously jolt the nation, is one step closer to being implemented by law.

Parliament’s court victory comes after a week of legal wrangling, in which the Committee accused AfriForum of trying to derail the Constitutional process. The co-chair of the Constitutional Review Committee, Lewis Nzimande, blasted AfriForum’s court bid as ill-advised, saying:

“AfriForum should have waited and sought to challenge the amendment to the constitution if one is passed. [AfriForum’s court bid] is deliberately aimed at shutting down parliament’s ability to consider policy options that AfriForum disapproves of. Only an act of parliament can be interdicted from coming into effect and/or challenged for want of legality.”