According to a report, the proposals for land expropriation without compensation seem to have fizzled out completely.
The policy appears to have reached the end of the line after the ANC and EFF failed to find common ground on their approach towards amending the Constitution. Where the ANC wants to pursue a more conservative land agenda, the EFF have demanded state custodianship for all relevant properties.
The political organizations missed a crucial meeting with each other last week, which signals that land expropriation without compensation has reached a terminal stumbling block. With the ANC and EFF now at odds with each other, the notion that the pair could combine to score more votes to change SA’s Constitution seems unlikely.
To support an amendment they need two-thirds of the House (or 267 MPs) but while both parties have the numbers between them the likelihood of “unanimous support” is waning. And the threshold for required for such a monumental change could rise to 300 MPs in the near future.
With all other major parties (such as the DA, FF Plus and the ACDP) staunchly against land expropriation without compensation, the policy would not get the backing of three-quarters of Parliament, This is however a reality the ANC is prepared to handle and Treasurer-General, Paul Masthatile says that plan B is to drop the non-compensatory model:
“We already have an Expropriation Act that allows us space to do some of the things that we want to do. While it does not explicitly say land can be expropriated without compensation, we think that there is room for us to do so with that act and we can test it in the courts if there are shortcomings. It seems that will be a way out under the circumstances.”
Sources: MSN
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