Deputy president David Mabuza confirmed to Parliament that introducing Expropriation without Compensation (EWC) remains a priority for government.
He was responding to a question from Floyd Shivambu of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) seeking clarity on the government’s position in light of comments by former president Kgalema Motlanthe, who had predicted that EWC would never take place.
Referring to the process for amending Section 25 of the Constitution, Mabuza said: ‘We would like to assure this House that the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, in order to enable the expropriation of land without compensation remains a commitment and priority of this administration. The government will not deviate from this policy position.’
He added that the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform had endorsed the constitutional amendment as well as the Expropriation Bill.
EWC has been a prominent political topic for the past two years. Nominally intended to expedite land reform, critics have argued that it actually diverts attention from the factors that have really contributed to its failure. These include a lack of political will, poor post-settlement support and administrative ineptitude and corruption. EWC has also been cited as a significant disincentive for investors.
The IRR has invested considerable time and energy in opposing EWC – for its potentially devastating impact on the economy and on the lives of all South Africans – and proposing practical alternatives to achieving much-needed land reform, both in the countryside and in towns and cities, where most South Africans live.