DA’s court challenge against Expropriation Act begins
The DA has filed papers in the High Court to challenge the recently signed Expropriation Act, because the Act is unconstitutional, both substantively and procedurally.
The DA’s papers were filed, electronically, in the Western Cape High Court on Friday 7 February 2025.
During the process in the 6th (previous) Parliament to pass the Act, the DA was unequivocal: 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.
The Presidency announced that the Act was signed into law in December 2024, against the advice of the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, who provided the president with a legal opinion that there were issues with the Bill that rendered it unconstitutional.
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.
After the DA defeated the ANC’s plan to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to enable expropriation without compensation, amending this Act became a blunt instrument of ANC majoritarianism in the last Parliament.
There are at least three other Acts that deal with restitution for injustices of the past that give meaning to Section 25 of the Constitution, and where the DA governs, we are facilitating just and fair compensation in terms of these laws (the Restitution of Land Rights Act, and two Land Reform Acts).
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 of these accepted international norms.
In the passage and signature of the Expropriation Act, the ANC wants to dramatically widen the purview of expropriation, and keep the window for land restitution open indefinitely.
However, 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 won a majority.
We will stand up for our positions and commitments to the people of South Africa.
The DA position is clear: we do not support the Expropriation Act
The Democratic Alliance maintains its opposition to the Expropriation Act on Constitutional grounds. However, we do not believe that South Africans should be punished for the flawed policies advocated by the ANC, as proposed by President Trump. The DA issued a statement only to make the point that South African citizens should not be punished by the US for bad policy.
Since 2018, the DA has pointed out that several clauses within the Expropriation Act make land confiscation possible in the future. We believe this is because the Act enables “nil” compensation in cases of expropriation, which may also be done through the Land Claims Court. Furthermore, the Act empowers the state to expropriate for compensation above nil— well below market value.
We believe these cases pose a grave risk to property rights and undermine Section 25 of the Constitution, particularly in the hands of the RET faction of the ANC and their allies.
Therefore, we will continue to fight the Act on constitutional and procedural grounds with all available means.
Policy uncertainty about a state’s ability to protect property rights is a significant deterrent to domestic and foreign investment. It will ultimately throttle economic growth and kill jobs.
Countries such as the United States use market-related expropriation mechanisms to develop critical public infrastructure such as roads, electricity transmission lines, railway lines, wayleaves, and other critical infrastructure. The DA believes this is the state’s only legitimate use of expropriation mechanisms in the public interest.
The DA has always supported land reform and fair access to land. However, the Expropriation Act was not intended to deal with land reform and restitution – as this sits in existing legislation: the Restitution of Land Rights Act and the two Land Reform Acts. The Expropriation Act wrongly enables nil compensation in the public interest within the limited scope of land reform and redress but ignores the public interest in economic growth and jobs. Growth and jobs are not possible without secure property rights.
The DA will, therefore, take the fight against the Expropriation Act to a bitter end:
- We will use the GNU structures to mount our opposition to the law from within the government – we have already declared a dispute over the signing of the act into law;
- We will be taking this act to court, where we will argue that the act is fatally flawed;
- As long as Dean Macpherson, or any other DA representative, is the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, we will protect South Africans through the Minister responsible for the Act.
- We will work with like-minded civil society organisations that are as committed to protecting private property rights as we are. We thank such organisations for their activism and dedication to South Africa’s best economic interests.
We will continue to use every part of our muscle to protect South Africans from the abuse of power and further economic failure.
We will fight to grow the economy and increase employment. We will stop the ANC’s drive for Expropriation Without Compensation. And with more public support, we will not have to die trying.
Teen die Onteieningswet: Hoe en waarom die DA dit beveg.
Die Demokratiese Alliansie handhaaf sy teenkanting teen die Onteieningswet op Grondwetlike gronde. Ons glo egter nie dat Suid-Afrikaners gestraf moet word vir die ANC se gebrekkige beleid, soos voorgestel deur President Donald Trump nie. Die DA het ‘n verklaring uitgereik om die punt te maak.
Sedert 2018 het die DA daarop gewys dat verskeie klousules binne die wet, grondonteiening sonder vergoeding in die toekoms moontlik maak.
Verder bemagtig die Wet die staat om te onteien vir vergoeding bo nul – ver onder markwaarde.
Ons glo hierdie gevalle hou ‘n ernstige risiko vir eiendomsreg in en ondermyn Artikel 25 van die Grondwet, veral in die hande van die RET-faksie van die ANC en hul bondgenote. Daarom sal ons voortgaan om die Wet op grondwetlike en prosedurele gronde te beveg – met alle middele tot ons beskikking.
Beleidsonsekerheid oor ‘n staat se vermoë om eiendomsreg te beskerm is ‘n beduidende afskrikmiddel vir binnelandse en buitelandse beleggings. Dit sal uiteindelik ekonomiese groei belemmer en werksgeleenthede uitwis.
Lande soos Amerika gebruik markverwante onteieningsmeganismes om kritieke openbare infrastruktuur soos paaie, elektrisiteit-transmissielyne en paaie te ontwikkel. Die DA glo dit hoort die staat se enigste wettige gebruik van onteieningsmeganismes in die openbare belang te wees.
Die DA het nog altyd grondhervorming en billike toegang tot grond ondersteun. Die Wet op Onteiening was nie bedoel om grondhervorming en restitusie te hanteer nie – aangesien dit ingesluit is in ander bestaande wetgewing: die Wet op die Herstel van Grondregte en die twee Grondhervormingswette.
Die Onteieningswet maak verkeerdelik “nul vergoeding” moontlik, op grond van die bewering dat dit in die openbare belang is vir grondhervorming en regstelling, maar ignoreer die openbare belang wat ekonomiese groei en werksgeleenthede betref. Groei en werk is nie moontlik sonder veilige eiendomsreg nie.
Die DA sal dus die stryd teen die Onteieningswet tot die bitter einde neem:
- Ons sal die RNE-strukture gebruik om ons teenkanting teen die wet van binne die regering te dryf. Ons het reeds ‘n dispuut oor die ondertekening van die wet verklaar;
- Ons sal hierdie wet hof toe neem, waar ons sal aanvoer dat die wet noodlottig gebrekkig is;
- Solank Dean Macpherson, of enige ander DA-verteenwoordiger, die Minister van Openbare Werke en Infrastruktuur is, sal ons Suid-Afrikaners deur die verantwoordelike Minister teen die Wet beskerm.
- Ons sal met eendersdenkende burgerlike organisasies, wat soos ons toegewyd is aan privaateiendomsreg, saamwerk. Ons bedank sulke organisasies vir hul aktivisme en toewyding aan Suid-Afrika se beste ekonomiese belange.
Ons sal voortgaan om ons spiere te gebruik om Suid-Afrikaners te beskerm teen die misbruik van mag en verdere ekonomiese mislukking.
Ons sal veg om die ekonomie te laat groei en indiensneming te verhoog. Ons sal die ANC se strewe vir Onteiening sonder Vergoeding stop. En met meer openbare steun, sal ons suksesvol wees.