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Despite a fair turn-out of members of the public at the venues, the DA remains apprehensive as to whether all concerned stakeholders managed to attend the Public Hearings on the Expropriation Bill in the respective districts of the Northern Cape.

Advertisements only appeared in the print media this morning, giving stakeholders who did not listen to the radio advertisements over the weekend, only a few hours to make arrangements to both prepare for and attend the hearings.   

A number of attendees also arrived late, probably due to the last minute nature of the publishing of the arrangements.

At the same time, not all of the five venues provided translators. For example, at the Ruth First Auditorium in Kimberley, the hearings were conducted solely in English – this was disadvantageous to the largely Tswana and Afrikaans speaking members present.  

In this regard, the Public Hearings remain compromised, which is of grave concern to the DA. This is because we fear that not all stakeholders were granted a fair opportunity to provide their input into this Bill.

The DA will, tomorrow, during the portfolio committee meeting’s considerations on the Negotiating Mandate of the Expropriation Bill, raise our concerns regarding certain clauses in the Bill, which we strongly believe afford the State unlimited powers to expropriate land, which appear to exceed the powers contained in the Constitution. We will highlight our concerns in an effort to amend these problematic clauses.

Some of our concerns include that there is no provision in this Bill to ensure that those who are losing their property are paid compensation within a reasonable period of time before the State takes control of the property. This will inevitably lead to instances where property owners are obliged to vacate their land but have not yet been paid compensation and are thus unable to finance alternative accommodation.

Also of serious concern is that land may be expropriated at potentially less than the amount owed to a bank or other financial institution through a mortage bond. This places banks and property owners in a very difficult position where loans cannot be seen as properly secured.

It is essential that citizens know that their property rights are secure. It is also crucial for foreign investment that property rights are secure.

The DA will do all in our power on a provincial and a national level to ensure that the Expropriation Bill remains true to the Constitution.

Issued by DA Northern Cape