Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen says while the party is confident that the 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill will not achieve a two-thirds majority vote, his party will challenge the Bill in court if it’s passed in the National Assembly.
The Bill will be brought before the House on Tuesday for final approval after the Ad Hoc Committee adopted it in September.
The Bill seeks to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to facilitate the expropriation of land without compensation.
“We are also ready for any legal challenges. We believe it is going to require a special amendment because it impedes on other rights enshrined in Chapter 1 of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, which would require to get a special majority in the House and not just simply the two-thirds majority. So we stand ready to challenge it legally should this Bill be passed in the National Assembly,” says Steenhuisen.
Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) leader Mzwanele Nyhontso says while the PAC is in favour of land repossession instead of land expropriation – it will still vote in favour of the 18th Amendment Bill which seeks to amend Section 25 of the Constitution to facilitate land expropriation without compensation.
Nyhontso explains why the PAC will vote in favour of the Bill: “The expropriation of land without compensation is not the policy of the PAC. The PAC’s policy is land repossession. The PAC is for land restoration. We are a dispossessed nation. Our land was taken by force and our land must be returned to its rightful owners.”
“Anyway on Tuesday, as PAC we are going to vote in favour of expropriation of land without compensation. Because anything that irritates and annoys the White people, we are going to support it. As long as the white people are not happy and not comfortable with the land expropriation we are going to vote in favour of it,” adds Nyhontso.
Earlier, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) Chief Whip Floyd Shivambu said they believe the ANC is failing the people.
“We still believe that the process was transparent and fair and consistent with what Parliament has mandated. We do not think that the draft Bill is going to permit the expropriation of land without compensation.”
“We think it’s a sell-out Bill we are just revolving around the same question that the ANC is failing our people and the ANC leaves us with no option but to engage on extrajudicial processes of land reform here in South Africa.”
Meanwhile, Ad Hoc Committee Chairperson Dr Mathole Motshekga said he has no doubt that the programme would be followed.
“It is premature to judge and suggest that people should take the law into their hands because Parliamentarians are failing. Parliamentarians have not yet failed, Parliamentarians are hard at work. We have agreed on a programme and I have no doubt that that programme would be followed and would produce the desired results.”
Constitution’s 18th Amendment Bill to be tabled before National Assembly on Tuesday:
