Expropriation Law a Significant Milestone, Contrary to Assertions by Apartheid Beneficiaries

Friday, 24 January 2025: - The South African Communist Party (SACP) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signing of the Expropriation Bill into law. This marks a significant milestone in dismantling the legacy of colonial and apartheid-era land dispossession that left millions of African people, in particular, and black people, in general, landless.

Unrepentant beneficiaries of the colonial and apartheid oppression, who benefitted, and others inherited land, other wealth and advantages from the ruthless expropriation of African land – without compensation – opposed the Bill. They stand opposed to the Act. Their intransigence is rooted in the defence of unjust, racist, white privilege. However, their opposition must not be allowed to halt the democratic transformation process or the constitutional imperative to address the historical injustices of dispossession.

The newly assented Expropriation Act repeals the apartheid-era Expropriation Act, 63 of 1975, replacing it with legislation rooted in the principles of a democratic and just transformation. The Act aligns with Section 25 of the Constitution, which states unequivocally:

“No provision of this section may impede the state from taking legislative and other measures to achieve land, water and related reform, in order to redress the results of past racial discrimination,”

provided such measures meet the requirements set out in Section 36(1) of the Constitution. This refers particularly to the need for law of general application to provide for and regulate the measures. The new Expropriation Act is precisely such a law, setting out a clear framework for how organs of state may expropriate land in the public interest for purposes including ensuring equitable access to land and water, among others.

This legislation strengthens the constitutional obligation of the state to “take reasonable legislative and other measures, within its available resources, to foster conditions which enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis”. It is a decisive step towards fulfilling the democratic mandate to achieve land redistribution and redress historical injustices, which have now been and are still reinforced by the dog-eat-dog capitalist market.

The new Expropriation Act is the result of an extensive and transparent process of consultation and engagement, stretching back to 2004. After 18 years of consultation and refinement, the Bill was passed by the National Assembly on 28 September 2022. Its signing into law has occurred 21 years since the consultative process started in 2004. This enactment demonstrates the importance of persistent struggle to advance transformative legislation.

The SACP calls on progressive forces to unite in advancing the struggle for equitable access to land, water and other natural resources. The struggle for land justice is far from over. We must mobilise to confront any obstruction by reactionary forces seeking to undermine the democratic aspirations of the people. Land expropriation in the public interest is not just a legal measure but a revolutionary step towards building a more equitable and just society.

Issued by the South African Communist Party,

Founded in 1921 as the Communist Party of South Africa.

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