Parliament, Friday, 30 October 2020 – A large number of residents in the West Coast have today declared their support for the amendment of Section 25 of the Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.
The delegation leading the hearings in Saldanha Bay today was told that this expropriation will guarantee redress and ensure equitable redistribution of land in South Africa. Ms Faranaaz Gaffoor told the delegation: “The state, including Parliament, the executive and the judiciary carry an obligation to redress the imbalances of the past through enactment of laws that will achieve this redress.”
Amongst her amendments, Ms Gaffoor proposed that Sub Section 3 of the Bill should be replaced with “The state should be the custodian of all South Africa’s natural resources, inclusive of land, mineral resources, and water; and relevant legislation should be passed to clearly define and contextualise custodianship of natural resources.”
Several submissions, including that of Ms Theresa Rossouw, are of the view that clauses 1, 4, 5, 6 and 9 should remain the same. On clause 2, they make the following amendment: Add a new clause 2 c, which should read as follows: “subject to without compensation or nil compensation under conditions laid out in a law of general application”.
These views also maintain that clause 3, which speaks about property, should after the first line be replaced by: “Where compensation is payable, the amount of the compensation and the time and manner of payment must be just and equitable”.
Notwithstanding the views of those who support and submitted views on how the Bill should be drafted, a few residents also submitted views against the amendment of Section 25. Mr Deon de Jager maintains that the state merely seeks to own land to distribute this to the politically connected. The end goal, he said, is for the government and not the people to own the land. “Look no further than the fact that only 6.3 per cent of land bought by the government has been transferred to private ownership” he said.
According to Mr Jannie Strydom, there should be a clear differentiation between land for housing and land for farming. “Do not destroy the value of property,” he said, further stating that “no finance, no farming, no business”.
Several people of the Khoisan communities also shared their views. These views shared the sentiments of Ms Kathleen Haynes in questioning exactly which land will be expropriated. According to Ms Haynes, there are many communities still waiting for land claims to be approved.
The leader of the delegation, Mr Cyril Xaba, reiterated the importance of the public participation process and said that the delegation came here today to get the views of the people on this crucial legislation. He thanked the residents of Saldanha Bay for their valuable inputs. Although the turnout was lower than expected, each view shared today will be taken into consideration and will have an impact on this legislation, he said.
The delegation will continue their public hearings at the Thusong Service Centre in Khayelitsha tomorrow at 11:00.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE LEADER OF THE DELEGATION OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE ON THE AMENDMENT OF SECTION 25 OF THE CONSTITUTION, MR CYRIL XABA.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the Committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Felicia Lombard (Ms)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8285
Cell: 063 503 2364
E-mail: flombard@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour