“We reject this act because we believe no government in a democratic country should be given such sweeping powers to expropriate property without compensation,” Zille said.
“We have not forgotten that the apartheid government used similar powers to forcibly remove communities from their land, often with inadequate compensation or none at all. This history teaches us that true redress requires protecting property rights, ensuring that no government is ever given unchecked expropriation powers ever again.
“It is for this reason that the DA will fight to ensure that every South African can have their property rights defended, protected and advanced.”
Zille said the bill was signed without the knowledge of DA's minister of public works and infrastructure, Dean Macpherson.
“The ANC is no longer in power on its own. The voters require the ANC to be in a coalition, and the ANC is bound by a signed Statement of Intent for a coalition with the DA. This means that they cannot simply proceed to implement resolutions of ANC elective conferences. The ANC now has to share power for the first time in our democratic history, and the DA will not stand by and allow the ANC to act as though they [have] won a majority.”
Zille said the process of adopting the act did not conform to the constitution and that several clauses are vague and contradictory.
She added that after the DA defeated the ANC’s plan to amend Section 25 of the constitution to enable expropriation without compensation, so amending this act became a “blunt instrument of ANC majoritarianism in the last parliament”.
“In the current Expropriation Act we reject the ANC trying to smuggle in further powers of expropriation without compensation in an act that is meant to provide for expropriation in circumstances where the state needs to develop infrastructure such as roads, railways and dams.
“Every country has legislation to ensure that the state can, with fair compensation, build public infrastructure, but this act goes too far outside these accepted international norms.”
TimesLIVE
WATCH | DA takes legal action to challenge Expropriation Act
'No government in a democratic country should be given such sweeping powers to expropriate property without compensation'
Image: Freddy Mavunda
The DA has filed papers in the Western Cape High Court to challenge the contentious Expropriation Act, citing that it's “unconditional, substantively and procedurally”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Bill into law in January, allowing the government to take ownership of private property for public purposes.
The act has been met with opposition from , the DA, AfriForum and US president Donald Trump.
DA federal council chair Helen Zille said the papers were filed on Friday electronically to have the act nullified.
“We reject this act because we believe no government in a democratic country should be given such sweeping powers to expropriate property without compensation,” Zille said.
“We have not forgotten that the apartheid government used similar powers to forcibly remove communities from their land, often with inadequate compensation or none at all. This history teaches us that true redress requires protecting property rights, ensuring that no government is ever given unchecked expropriation powers ever again.
“It is for this reason that the DA will fight to ensure that every South African can have their property rights defended, protected and advanced.”
Zille said the bill was signed without the knowledge of DA's minister of public works and infrastructure, Dean Macpherson.
“The ANC is no longer in power on its own. The voters require the ANC to be in a coalition, and the ANC is bound by a signed Statement of Intent for a coalition with the DA. This means that they cannot simply proceed to implement resolutions of ANC elective conferences. The ANC now has to share power for the first time in our democratic history, and the DA will not stand by and allow the ANC to act as though they [have] won a majority.”
Zille said the process of adopting the act did not conform to the constitution and that several clauses are vague and contradictory.
She added that after the DA defeated the ANC’s plan to amend Section 25 of the constitution to enable expropriation without compensation, so amending this act became a “blunt instrument of ANC majoritarianism in the last parliament”.
“In the current Expropriation Act we reject the ANC trying to smuggle in further powers of expropriation without compensation in an act that is meant to provide for expropriation in circumstances where the state needs to develop infrastructure such as roads, railways and dams.
“Every country has legislation to ensure that the state can, with fair compensation, build public infrastructure, but this act goes too far outside these accepted international norms.”
TimesLIVE
READ MORE:
This is the real reason I quit the DA, Helen
‘It’s not true’: Steenhuisen clarifies Trump’s ‘misconception’ about Expropriation Act after threats
‘Not on my watch’: DA’s public works minister Macpherson opposes expropriation law
DA declares GNU dispute over new expropriation law
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