Dangerous twist in debate on amendment of section 25
31 May 2021
Today, 31 May 2021, is the deadline for the Ad Hoc committee tasked with the amendment of section 25 of the Constitution to complete their work. The ANC had at the last minute, proposed further amendments to section 25.
This followed bilateral discussions between the ANC and the EFF. The EFF’s proposal entails the deletion of the reference to the courts’ role in the proposed amendment of section 25(3). The EFF proposes that the entire sub-section 3, which makes provision for compensation for expropriation, be scrapped.
Furthermore, the ANC, during the meeting of the Ad Hoc committee, had suddenly and unexpectedly indicated that they would support an amendment to the wording of section 25(5) which stipulates that the state must introduce reasonable legislative and other measures to promote state custodianship of land. The EFF has long promoted state custodianship over all natural resources. The EFF is also in favour of scrapping the 1913 date for restitution claims in section 25(7).
The Ad Hoc committee decided to ask Parliament for a further 30 days to complete their work, which would be the third postponement of the deadline.