Deadline to comment on land reform approaches

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Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee to Initiate and Introduce Legislation Amending Section 25 of the Constitution on Tuesday reminded all the stakeholders of the approaching deadline.

This comes as written submissions are sought on the Draft Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill.

The aim of the bill is to amend the Constitution of South Africa so as to, among other things, provide that where land and any improvements thereon are expropriated for the purposes of land reform, nil compensation may be payable.

"Written submissions must be received by no later than 31 January 2020," said the committee.

Submissions and enquiries must be directed to V Ramaano, 3rd Floor, 90 Plein Street, Cape Town, 8000 or emailed.

Copies of the bill may be obtained from V Ramaano on (021) 403 3820 or 083 709 8427 or at www.parliament.gov.za.

A copy of the draft bill can be found [[https://tinyurl.com/yxydm746.

In August 2019, the Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture proposed for the amendment of the Constitution that clarifies that expropriation without compensation may be necessary in limited circumstances.

The recommendations were contained in the final report of the Presidential Expert Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture.

President Cyril Ramaphosa in September 2018 appointed the panel to support the work of the Inter Ministerial Committee (IMC) on Land Reform and to advise the IMC on a broad range of policy matters associated with land reform, including restitution, redistribution, tenure security and agricultural support.