Zuma asked not to sign Expropriation Bill
The DA has petitioned President Jacob Zuma to refer the Expropriation Bill back to Parliament because it had been advised by its lawyers that the draft law is unconstitutional, says a report on the IoL site. DA MP Anchen Dreyer said the Bill violated sections 25 and 26 of the Constitution which respectively deal with the right to property and the right not to be evicted without a court order.
‘This needs to be rectified by Parliament. Indeed, the President cannot in good conscience assent to it, until it has been brought in line with our Constitution,’ she said. Dreyer said in addition the DA believed that there were procedural irregularities in the manner in which the Bill was passed last month and it should be sent back to the National Council of Provinces to ‘fix these errors’.
The Presidency has announced it has received the objections to the Bill and the matter is being considered. The Bill, which has been in the pipeline since 2008, seeks to address racial inequities in land ownership. It will enable the state to acquire land in the ‘public interest’ at prices set by a government adjudicator and will see the end of the willing-seller, willing-buyer model.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
