1. COSATU Submission: Expropriation With Out Compensation (Section 25) 04 September 2018

2. Introduction Welcome national and parliamentary debate;
Landless crises:
Informal areas;
Farm workers and labour tenants;
Communal land tenure.
New and emerging farmers’ difficulties;
Pressured agricultural sector; and
Largest non-state employer.
Emotional volatility.

3. Property and Land
Billions (Rands) spent since 1994 on land reform and housing;
Remaining racially skewed land and farm ownership;
Collapse of many new & emerging farmers;
Growth of informal areas;
Evictions of farm workers; and
Lack of communal land tenure security, especially women.

4. Section 25 – Compels Government to
Advance land reform and restitution;
Provide security of rights and tenure to the dispossessed and those denied under apartheid; and
Property rights cannot block this broader transformational mandate.

5. Section 25: Compensation
Current use of the property;
History of the acquisition and use of the property;
Market value of the property;
Extent of state investment and subsidy in improvement of the property; and
Property is not limited to land.

6. Section 25: Compensation
Purpose of the expropriation;
Public interest includes the nation’s commitment to land reform, and to reforms to bring equitable access to all South Africa’s natural resources;
Failure to achieve land reform not the failure of the Constitution; and
Amend if constitutionally necessary for legal clarity.

7. Expropriation Act COSATU and business support for Act;
Extensive Nedlac and Parliamentary engagements and;
Unnecessary Parliamentary delays;
Correct legislative vehicle;
Reflects values and mandate of Constitution; and
Speeds up court processes and caters for Valuer General.

8. Expropriation Act – Proposed Amendments for Expropriation With Out Compensation
Abandoned land;
Neglected land owned by absentee landlords;
Idle land that is needed for productive public use;
State owned land; and
Land occupied by labour tenants historically.

9. Expropriation Act – Proposed Amendments for Expropriation With Out Compensation
Land who’s value has been unfairly inflated due to massive state investments there or nearby;
Land held to speculative ransom that is needed for productive use; and
Land offered by owner to state as a donation e.g. for land reform etc.

10. Expropriation Act – Proposed Amendments for Expropriation With Out Compensation
Land expropriated during apartheid or colonial eras where market value was not paid to original owner and was not paid for by the current owner; and
Land who’s owner benefited from unfair discriminatory loan during apartheid era e.g. farmer given below market value loan now wanting market value compensation.

11. Expropriation Act – Proposed Amendments for Expropriation With Out Compensation
Agricultural land above land holding limit thresholds support by the Minister for DAFF as envisaged in the Regulation of Land Holdings Bill.

12. Related Delayed Land Reform Legislation
Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Bill;
Regulation of Land Holding Bill;
Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill; and
Communal Land Tenure Bill.