The Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Committee of Parliament Amending Section 25 of the Constitution Mathole Motshekga has slammed the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) bid to stop the amendment of Section 25.
The DA has created a website in which the party urges South Africans to raise their objections.
The move followed the bill’s publication in the government gazette yesterday.
Motshekga has described it as irresponsible and undemocratic.
“The Democratic Alliance is irresponsible. It’s undemocratic because they voted for the version of the Bill that has been gazetted – and also they must understand that our democracy is both participatory and representative. But the public representatives have had their opportunity to develop a bill that has not been gazetted. Now it is for the people of South Africa without undue influence to express themselves,” he says.
The proposed law has been tagged as a Section 74 Bill, which makes provision for Bills Amending the Constitution.
The House of Traditional Leaders, which is empowered in terms of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, has been given until the January 29, 2020 to make input on the Bill.
Members of the public and stakeholders also have until the end of January 2020 to make written submissions.
The DA has always been opposed to the Bill, saying it doesn’t believe the Constitution needs to be amended.
“Secondly, the amendment that was now proposed in the Bill means that legislation can determine the circumstances under which expropriation can be nil. The DA believes that this would cause great problems,- it is arbitrary, that any such circumstances should it be included somewhere – it should be in the Constitution. We therefore oppose it and we ask the citizens of South Africa to also oppose it,” says DA Member of Parliament and member of the Ad Hoc Committee Annelie Lotriet.
