the land redistribution bill does not pass

It was a priority for Cyril Ramaphosa. As soon as he came to power in February 2018, the South African president pledged to correct the injustices linked to the dispossession of land during apartheid. But the bill presented by his government was rejected by Parliament.

The issue of land redistribution has been a divisive and heated topic in South Africa for years. The project presented by the government provided for the expropriation by the State, without compensation, of land majority owned by white South Africans for the benefit of the black majority. It was rejected by Parliament. The proposed amendment to the Constitution did not win a two-thirds majority among the 400 deputies. A quarter of a century after the fall of the racist regime and the first democratic elections in 1994, three-quarters of the country’s agricultural land is still in the hands of the white community, which however represents only 8% of the 59 million inhabitants.

A representative committee has worked in recent years on this modification of the law aimed at “remedy an inhuman crime, a crime against the African majority “, estimated before the vote the spokesperson for the ANC, the history party in power.
But President Ramaphosa’s African National Congress has been opposed from all quarters.

The first opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), seen as a party of whites said no. The latter considers that expropriation without compensation violates property rights and creates uncertainty. He also considers that it risks further weakening an already struggling economy. The other refusal comes from the radical Party of Fighters for Economic Freedom (EFF) led by Julius Malema. Whoever agitates relentlessly, in front of his predominantly black electorate, the promise of expropriations without compensation finds that the project does not go far enough

The project had also raised concerns among investors and companies, especially in the mining sector, despite Cyril Ramaphosa’s promises to spare them.
However, according to land law specialist at the Legal Resources Center advocacy group Wilmien Wicomb, the chapter is far from over. A separate expropriation bill is under consideration in parliament and is expected to be voted on next year.
Another proposal on land redistribution is also under consideration. “We are working to ensure that the people of this country have equitable access to land, as unequal and biased models of land tenure cannot lastJustice Minister Ronald Lamola told AFP.