Local communities support Expropriation Bill
The majority of members of the public, representatives of political parties as well as youth and civil societies in the Mopani district are in support of land expropriation without compensation.
This was evident during the public hearings on the Expropriation Bill that were held at the Lenyenye Community Hall on Friday, 9 April where oral submissions on the proposed amendment to Section 25 of the Constitution were delivered.
The hearings showed wide-ranging agreement on the need to replace the apartheid Expropriation Act with a constitutionally compliant law.
According to the ad hoc committee dealing with the matter, the new legislation is to provide for the expropriation of property, for a public purpose or in the public interest, and not for land reform.
The Expropriation Bill also provides for certain instances where expropriation with no compensation may be appropriate.
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Representatives of the SACP, ANC, South African National Civic Organisation, Congress of South African Trade Unions, the EFF and students organisations all agreed that there is an urgent need for expropriation of land without compensation to redress apartheid and colonial dispossession.
They accused parliamentarians of delaying the progress of the bill.
