Public Works and Infrastructure Deputy Minister Sihle Zikalala has welcomed the signing into law of the Expropriation Bill by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday.
The Deputy Minister has described it as seminal and ground-breaking.
“The legislation affirms the role of the state in unlocking land for socio-economic development and for distributive purposes. The legislation also paves way for expropriation in the public interest and is in full alignment with the Constitution,” said the Deputy Minister in a statement.
The legislation places the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure as the executing authority of expropriation.
All applications for those seeking expropriation for a public purpose and in the public interest must go through the department.
Zikalala, in his capacity as the former Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, accelerated the finalisation of this legislation and oversaw its passing by the National Assembly.
The bill aligns with Section 25 of the Constitution and is modelled on international best practices and it complied with all public consultation processes.
“This is the legislation that will take South Africa in reality on the path of economic transformation and inclusive economic growth” said Zikalala.
“This is a culmination of the long history of struggle waged by the forbearers against the dispossession of the majority of Black people through the 1913 Land Act and the notorious Group Areas Act.
“We will use the newly promulgated legislation to enhance the delivery of infrastructure development programmes, industrialisation and agricultural reform that improves food security,” the Deputy Minister added.
He said that, as the President had indicated, the legislation will be implemented without destabilising the economic and development prospects of the country. – SAnews.gov.za
