Comments‚ deliberations and demands made during national
hearings were a key factor in the ANC deciding to go ahead with plans to amend
the Constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation.
Speaking in a late-night message on Tuesday‚ ANC president
Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the ANC will go ahead with the amendment of
Section 25 of the Constitution‚ known as the property clause.
He said this was prompted by the nationwide hearings on the
proposal‚ which have been going on for the last three weeks.
However‚ Ramaphosa also admitted that Section 25 as it
currently stood did allow for "expropriation of land without compensation
in the public interest".
Said Ramaphosa: “It has become patently clear that our
people want the Constitution to be more explicit about expropriation of land
without compensation‚ as demonstrated in the public hearings.
"There is also a growing body of opinion in our
country that the Constitution‚ as it stands‚ does not impede expropriation of
land without compensation. The ANC Lekgotla reaffirmed its position that a
comprehensive land reform programme that enables equitable access to land will
unlock economic growth by bringing more land in South Africa to full use and
enable the productive participation of millions more South Africans in the
economy‚" Ramaphosa said.
He added that the parliamentary constitutional amendment
committee that was conducting the land hearings will now finalise the Section
25 amendment proposal and determine how this would be implemented. Times
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