Land Reform and Rural Development Director-General (DG) Thozi Gwanya says farmers continue to sell land to the State at overstated prices because the willing-buyer, willing-seller model remains a stumbling block to land reform and redistribution. Gwanya was explaining his Department's spending plans for the next three years.

He says farmers have a tendency to overprice their land once they find out the State is a potential buyer. The DG has cautioned against the willing-buyer, willing-seller model further indicating that he is redrafting the Expropriation Bill together with his public works counterparts. 

The Bill was thrown out of parliament last year following concerns over its constitutionality. It gives the Land and Public Works Ministers powers to expropriate land for reform and redistribution purposes. 

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works has asked for more than R700 million in next year's National Budget to start upgrading the parliamentary precinct in Cape Town. The department's Chief Financial Officer Cathy Motsisi says studies have shown that South Africa's parliament does not meet international standards in terms of its functionality and size. 

Motsisi says the new precinct will allow for easier public participation in parliamentary proceedings despite the recent debate on the possibility of moving parliament to Pretoria.