Next Parliament to conclude process to amend the Constitution over land expropriation
As the fifth parliamentary term comes to an end it will now be up to the sixth parliament, to be put in place after the election, to amend section 25 of the Constitution to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation.
Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mathapo said the report on section 25 by the ad hoc committee was finalised this month, but the committee had received a series of briefings on the issue from land reform and legal experts, which was heard on Tuesday in Parliament.
Mathapo adds that the ad-hoc committee will be reconstituted after the May elections and will carry on where the previous committee left off.
"It will follow the same process of lawmaking that will result with the draft Constitutional Amendment Bill, which will need to be considered by the two houses (National Assembly and the National Council of provinces) and then will be passed forward to the President," Mathapo said.
The Congress of the People's (COPE)’s chief whip, Deirdre Cater, who sits on the ad-hoc committee, says the party is still opposing the amendment of section 25. Cater adds that the party knew that the process won't be concluded by the 5th parliament.
"This is not just an amendment to the constitution, it is amending the bill of rights. It was very clear that it was not possible to do it and the question actually arises whether this was something the ruling party (ANC) wanted to do," Carter said.
African National Congress (ANC) Member of Parliament (MP), Justice Muguni said the 6th parliament will amend the constitution by 2021, led by the ANC.
"One can predict that within two years of the 6th parliament, which will be 2021, the Constitution would have been amended,” said Muguni. "Probably in the same year or the year after there will be definite cases of expropriation of land without compensation," Muguni added.
The Democratic Alliances (DA)’s Annelie Lotriet, who also sits on the committee, says section 25 doesn't need to be amended.
"The whole process can be done through legislation which the constitution makes provision for,” she says. She says the latest report to Parliament contained comments from experts that addressed the ad-hoc committee, “and most of the experts are of the opinion that section 25 need not be amended, " says Lotriet.