South African Property News

Farmers Vow to Fight New Legislation

The government’s Expropriation Bill has caused much consternation amongst farmers in the country, following the approval of the draft policy by Cabinet earlier this month. The Bill is due to be tabled in Parliament sometime in June this year.

A spokesperson for Cabinet says that the envisaged act will align more than a hundred pieces of legislation and ordinances, including the government’s right of expropriation, with the nation’s Constitution. A significant proposed change is from the legal principle that the land must be used for “public purpose”, to the requirement that expropriation should be “in the public interest” (Business Day). Another change is the widening of the interpretation of the constitutional requirement of “just and equitable” as not necessarily market-related.

The farmers’ union, Agri SA has expressed serious reservations about the wide powers that the new act would give the Minister of Public Works and the limitations on the rights of property owners. There is concern about the limitation of full access to courts, the possible watering-down of market-related compensation and the undue haste with which the bill is being pushed through Parliament (Business Day).

The Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister, Lulu Xingwana has repeatedly threatened to use expropriation to accelerate the land restitution process and the redistribution of land. The Minister has accused white landowners of abusing the willing buyer / willing seller principle, by demanding exorbitant prices for land. Farmers have also been accused by the Land Claims Commission of “giving it the run around” in reaching acquisition agreements (Business Day).

It has been reported however, that the delays in restitution are largely due to the tremendous inadequacies in the way that the Land Claims Commission has gone about the validation and verification of land claims (The Weekender). There have been many spurious claims, with claimant communities competing for the same land and participating in multiple claims, or claims so vague that they make no reasonable sense.

Apparently, there are about 4900 out of the original 79696 claims still to be settled, however these represent the majority of individuals waiting for restitution. They also represent a vast proportion of the total land under claim. The former Chief Land Claims Commissioner, Tozi Gwanya says that the objecting landowners have recourse in the Land Claims Court and this has been a major factor in the delays in restitution.

TAU, a predominantly white farmers’ union, has told farmers not to be too concerned, as the proposed changes may be in contravention of Sections 1, 2 and 3 of the Constitution. TAU President, Paul van der Walt regards the process as an intimidation and propaganda exercise and promises to ensure that farmers’ property rights are secure.

The information in this article is courtesy of Neels Blom, Business Day, “South Africa: Farmers Vow to Fight New Expropriation Legislation”, 17 March 2008.

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