Expropriation Act 'suffices' for govt's immediate aims - ANC's Ntuli
The African National Congress (ANC)'s parliamentary whip, Mdumiseni Ntuli, said he doesn't believe any more legislative changes were necessary to achieve government's expropriation aims.
ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli. Picture: Lindsay Dentlinger/EWN
CAPE TOWN - The African National Congress (ANC)'s parliamentary whip, Mdumiseni Ntuli, said he doesn't believe any more legislative changes were necessary to achieve government's expropriation aims.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to imminently announce the names of envoys who will travel around the world to set the record straight on government's policies after the Expropriation Act sparked misinformation from the Trump administration that’s led to a temporary freeze on donor aid.
The ANC's parliamentary caucus on Sunday held a lekgotla to outline its work for the year, including oversight over the implementation of the Expropriation and National Health Insurance acts.
ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli highlights the importance of today’s lekgotla after two days of induction. LD pic.twitter.com/2kli2w2phM
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During debate on the State of the Nation Address last week, the official opposition, the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party, said it didn't believe the that Expropriation Act would achieve the redress it seeks and it would again attempt to amend section 25 of the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation.
After the ANC amended an Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) motion on amending the Constitution in 2021, the bill failed.
Ntuli said if this route was pursued again, his caucus will have to consider any new dynamics that were presented.
"In our view, in the context of what we need to achieve immediately, that act suffices. It gives us an opportunity to look at buildings that have been abandoned that can be used as hostel accommodation. For human settlement, it’s looking at the land that is owned under what they call speculative ownership."
Ntuli said that his caucus would closely monitor the implementation of the Expropriation Act, with the public works minister and his deputy seemingly at odds on how this should be done.
Minister Dean Macpherson has repeatedly said he would not allow the expropriation of property without compensation.
His party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has also mounted a court challenge, arguing that the bill's passage in Parliament was procedurally flawed.