AfriBusiness sent a petition to President Jacob Zuma to stop the signing of the Expropriation bill, and to urge the President to return the bill to Parliament for reconsideration. AfriBusiness challenges the substance of the bill, as well as the process that led to its acceptance.

Substantive grounds:

As far as the substance of the bill is concerned, AfriBusiness argues that, amongst others:

• there is uncertainty about how compensation will be paid for expropriation; and
• the calculation of compensation is described in vague and incoherent terms in the bill.

Procedural grounds:

Concerning the process that was followed and which led to the adoption by Parliament, AfriBusiness argues that, amongst others:

• the constitutional requirement concerning public participation processes were not properly followed;
• the period which the Portfolio Committee on Public Works provided for public consultation on the bill, was unreasonably short; and
• the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) adopted the bill without sufficient public consultation, and they ignored all objections that have been raised on the constitutionality of the bill during public consultation.

“The President would be wise to heed the warnings from various sources about the bill’s constitutionality. The processes that have been followed in relation to this issue, have consistently shown that there are problems with the bill and Zuma now has the opportunity to put these issues right, by not signing the bill into law. AfriBusiness has obtained legal opinions from three of the country’s top advocates and will fight the bill in court on the basis of its process as well as its substance,” says Armand Greyling, Law and Policy Analyst of AfriBusiness.

 

Issued by AfriBusiness