NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ADOPTS PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO SECTION 25 OF THE CONSTITUTION
In an historic development since the advent of our parliamentary democracy, the National Assembly (NA) today considered and adopted the report of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee (JCRC) on the review of Section 25 of the Constitution, to expropriate land without compensation.
The adoption of this report is a culmination of a lengthy parliamentary process which commenced on 27 February 2018, where the NA adopted a motion to review Section 25 of the Constitution and other clauses where necessary, to sufficiently cater for the principle of land expropriation without compensation. The JCRC then conducted an extensive public participation process which included a land colloquium, written and oral submissions, and held public hearings across the country. The overwhelming majority of the people of South Africa called for an amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution, so as to expedite the process of land reform in South Africa.
Today, the NA responded to the quest of our people to resolve this national grievance and restore the land to its rightful owners. The adopted recommendation states — "Section 25 of the Constitution must be amended to make explicit that which is implicit in the Constitution, with regards to Expropriation of Land without Compensation, as a legitimate option for Land Reform, so as to address the historic wrongs caused by the arbitrary dispossession of land, and in so doing ensure equitable access to land and further empower the majority of South Africans to be productive participants in ownership, food security and agricultural reform programs."
This recommendation is a direct result of the resolution of the 54th National Conference of the African National Congress (ANC) which resolved that the ANC should, as a matter of policy, pursue expropriation of land without compensation. Conference also resolved that this should be pursued without destabilising the agricultural sector; without endangering food security in our country; and without undermining economic growth and job creation.
The expropriation of land is in the public interest, and is about redressing the effects of what President Ramaphosa characterised as "the original sin of arbitrary dispossession of land" in his 2018 State of the Nation Address (SONA).