It is clear that the ANC government is with the Expropriation Bill preparing the way for a next piece of legislation that would legalise land grabs in South Africa and all landowners should take notice of this, Dr. Pieter Groenewald, the parliamentary spokesperson on land affairs for the FF Plus said.
Dr. Groenewald said during the second reading debate on the Expropriation Bill in Parliament that the FF Plus rejects the Bill and even rejects the desirability to debate the Bill.
“It is bad news for all land owners in South Africa. We had such an Act and it is generally accepted in the world that expropriation legislation exists. This Bill now repeals the previous Act.
“Expropriation Acts across the world clearly state that the objective of the legislation is in the interest of public use, such as the building of a bridge or a road. In this case the Bill however stipulates that the expropriation may also be in public interest.
“It is within the ambit of Section 25 of the Constitution which stipulates that it could specifically also be used for land reform in South Africa, but I want every landowner to know today that this is the second to last Bill before the law that will allow for land grabs in South Africa.
“In Zimbabwe they did it illegally. In South Africa, under the ANC government they want to legalise land grabs.
“The President said in his SONA they are busy with the preparation of a Bill with the name ‘Regulating of Land Ownership’’. The essence of it will be a restriction on the size of land one person may own, i.e. 5 000 hectares and in exceptional cases 12 000 hectares.
“Then it clearly says that if you have more land than that it will be expropriated. This is therefore the second to last Bill to prepare the way so that the one to follow it will legalise land grabs.
“The definition of land as contained in Section 25 of the Constitution is wide. I hope that institutions such as the FW de Klerk Foundation will approach the Constitutional Court to test this definition,” Dr. Groenewald said.
Dr. Groenewald also reprimanded the EFF about their consistent comments that whites had stolen the land of the black people and said that everybody knows that this is not true.
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