Land expropriation without compensation ‘now unlikely to go ahead’ – report

It’s been one of the biggest hot-button issues of the past few years in South Africa – but for all the fussing and the feuding, the proposals for land expropriation without compensation now seem to have fizzled out completely.

That’s according to a report published by Rapport, who labelled the deal as ‘dead in the water’.

Is land expropriation without compensation doomed to fail?

The policy is believed to have reached the end of the line, after the ANC and EFF failed to find common ground on their approach towards amending the Consitution. Whereas the ruling party wants to pursue a more conservative land agenda, the Red Berets have demanded state custodianship for all relevant properties.

The political organisations missed a crucial meeting with each other last week, signalling that land expropriation without compensation has reached a terminal stumbling block. With the ANC and EFF now at odds with each other, the notion that the pair could combine to score the votes needed to change SA’s constitution seems fanciful.

ANC, EFF could fall short of Parliamentary requirements

They need two-thirds of the House – or 267 MPs – to support an amendment. Whereas both parties do have the numbers between them (230 ANC and 44 EFF make up 274 MPs in total), the likelihood of ‘unanimous support’ is now waning. What is more, the threshold required for such a monumental change could actually rise to 300 MPs in the near future.

With all the other major parties – such as the DA, FF Plus, and the ACDP – staunchly against land expropriation without compensation, the policy would not get the backing of three-quarters of Parliament. This is a reality the ANC is prepared to handle, however, and Treasurer-General Paul Mashatile says that Plan B is to drop the non-compensatory model:

“We already have an Expropriation Act that allows us space to do some of the things that we want to do. While it does not explicitly say land can be expropriated without compensation, we think that there is room for us to do so with that act and we can test it in the courts if there are shortcomings. It seems that will be a way out under the circumstances.”

Paul Mashatile on 27 August 2021