The most important thing to know about South Africa’s new Expropriation Act is that it does not put the owners or buyers of residential or commercial properties in South Africa at risk of having their homes expropriated without compensation.
Government-mandated expropriation of property, whether introduced via a change in the Bill of Rights or through the back door, by the proposed Draft Expropriation Bill, will have horrific consequences and will irreversibly heighten social and racial tensions.
It appears unlikely that we’ll see an amendment to the Constitution on the section concerning land expropriation without compensation before the general election in 2019, should the ANC take this route.
People are understandably anxious about some of the statements made on expropriation of land without compensation, however if viewed from a legal perspective, it is possible to distil a consistent message through official documentation and the communication from the presidency.
