DA takes legal action to nullify Expropriation Act

President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the contentious bill into law earlier this month.

Since then, the Democratic Alliance, Freedom Front Plus, IFP, and AfriForum have vowed to turn to the courts to oppose the Act.  

 DA Federal Council Chairperson Helen Zille said the act is unconstitutional, both substantively and procedurally.

"We reject this Act, because we believe that no government in a democratic country should be given such sweeping powers to expropriate property without compensation.

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.

 Zille added the DA has asked the court for an order that will nullify the Expropriation Act in its current form.

"The DA’s challenge to the Act is both substantive and procedural, and includes:

⁠The process of adopting the Act did not conform to the Constitution.

Five out of the seven provinces that voted for the Act in the National Council of Provinces, did so without obtaining a provincial mandate in the manner prescribed by law and regulations; and

⁠The Act is vague and contradictory in several clauses, which renders it unconstitutional.

The purpose of this court action is to have the Act nullified in its entirety.

Apart from compelling legal shortcomings, the DA strongly opposes the substance of the Act, which seeks to fulfil the mandate of the ANC’s elective conference in 2017, which mandated the ANC to include expropriation without compensation as an instrument of law," Zille said.

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