Legal updates and opinions
News / News
Land Reform – ANC To Amend Constitution
- The ANC has been embroiled in an internal debate on how to operationalise the resolution it took in its 54th National Conference in Nasrec, to expropriate land without compensation in December 2017.
- The Nasrec resolution was followed by a Parliamentary motion mandating Parliament to explore whether or not section 25 of the Constitution ought to be amended in order to make it possible for the State to expropriate land without compensation. The Parliamentary process was led by the EFF and supported by the ANC and a majority of the parties in Parliament, with certain amendments and caveats made by the ANC adding that expropriation without compensation must be done in order to promote food production and agricultural reform.
- The ANC thereafter internally held a Land Summit which I was invited to and attended, where there divergent views, on whether or not section 25 of the Constitution, as it stands, is adequate for purposes of expropriating land without compensation.
- Parallel with the ANC internal processes on this issue, Parliamentary public hearings have been taking place in various provinces, where the public is giving input on whether or not section 25 ought to be amended. The public hearings were followed by a public process in terms of which written submissions were invited from the public.
- President Ramaphosa then appointed an Inter-Ministerial Committee in July to deal specifically with the issue of Land Reform.
- The ANC held its lekgotla on 26 July to 31 July, the result of which is that the ANC has now adopted a position that it will move to amend the Constitution. The ANC move, does not affect the Parliamentary process currently underway.
- The Joint Parliamentary Committee will be expected to report back on the parliamentary process on 28 September 2018.
- Ultimately, there will have to be a proposal on the proposed wording of the Constitution and such proposal will have to be implemented by way of a two thirds majority in Parliament. The latter will be a process and it is anticipated that opposition parties will challenge the motion in Parliament.
Latest News
Funds in crisis – how do funds manage in times of crisis?
by Shayne Krige, Director and head of the Investment Funds & Private Equity practice It has been an interesting two [...]
Entities regulated by the FINANCIAL SECTOR CONDUCT AUTHORITY (“FSCA”)
by Hilah Laskov, Senior Associateand Chelsea Roux, Candidate AttorneyReviewed by Shayne Krige, Director and head of the Investment Funds & Private [...]
The right to privacy and the Amendments to the Disaster Management Regulations
by Jones Antunes, Director; Innocentia Moele; Senior Associate; and Danielle Hertz, Candidate Attorney On 1 April 2020 the Minister of [...]
Litigation during the lock-down
Pending litigation during lockdown On the evening of 30 March 2020, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the Nation, four days into the [...]
COVID-19 and funerals: What is the legal position?
by Naledi Motsiri, Director and Nelsie Siboza, Candidate Attorney Introduction The highly contagious and even deadly Coronavirus ("Covid‑19") has had [...]
COVID-19 tax relief measures
By Erich Bell, Director, Werksmans Tax Proprietary Limited The Draft Disaster Management Tax Relief Bill, 2020 and Disaster Management Tax [...]
