The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the apparent withdrawal of the Expropriation Bill from the parliamentary process, because we firmly believe that this legislation will have profoundly negative consequences for all South Africans. We are however deeply concerned that it was ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe who announced the bill's withdrawal from Parliament in an interview last week, before this information had even been conveyed to the members of the parliamentary committee tasked with dealing with the legislation.
The fact that this announcement came from a senior ANC party official shows yet again that the ruling party is increasingly unable to separate the party from the state. It is completely untenable that in a democracy such as ours, an unelected party official such as Mantashe should be so at ease with making decisions about the tabling or withdrawal of legislation, when he is not even a Member of Parliament.
Significantly, a letter from the DA member of the Public Works Portfolio Committee - which has been deliberating on the bill - to the committee Chair, asking what the official status of the legislation is, has gone unanswered for a number of weeks. We still do not have an official position from Parliament as to the status of the bill; it is now clear that the ANC was waiting to take instructions from Luthuli House.
Even more worrisome are the reasons given by Mantashe for the withdrawal of the Bill. He cites "white fears" as the main reason. This is an outrageous attempt to polarize South Africans along racial lines for narrow political ends, and has nothing to do with the particulars of this legislation.
The reality is that the bill in its current form would have had a disastrous effect on the economy as a whole, thereby affecting all South Africans, rich and poor, black and white.
This is because it would have undermined the protection of property rights, which, experience has shown, is the one common ingredient in all the successful economies of the world.
Undermining the security of these rights would have led to a massive drop in both local and international investor confidence, and would have precipitated capital- and skills-flight. These are all problems that the South African economy can ill afford as we continue to grapple with poverty and joblessness on a massive scale.
The DA remains committed to ensuring that we engage in a just and sustainable land reform process in South Africa - one that is based on the constitution and the rule of law. We will therefore continue to monitor the situation regarding this legislation closely.
Statement issued by Maans Nel MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on land affairs, August 24 2008
