Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU) notes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s signing of the Expropriation Bill into law as a step toward harmonising legislation with the Constitution and recognising expropriation in the public interest including for the purposes of land reform. If implemented effectively, expropriation could serve as one of several tools to widen access to well-located urban land for poor and working-class families.
In 2021, NU submitted comments on the Expropriation Bill B23 of 2020, expressing support for expropriation, particularly in urban contexts. While we applauded the bill’s intentions, we raised critical concerns about ensuring that the beneficiaries were clearly defined and that the State has the capacity to fulfill its obligations effectively.
South Africa remains the most unequal country in the world, as highlighted in a 2022 World Bank report. This staggering inequality is deeply rooted in the unequal distribution of land, a legacy of dispossession and exclusion. While the Expropriation Act has elements toward addressing this injustice, it is not enough on its own to fulfill the constitutional mandate for redistribution.
What is concerning is the posture adopted by the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Dean Macpherson, who holds significant authority under the Act. The Minister’s apparent reluctance to embrace the Act’s transformative potential raises fears that constitutional imperatives may be frustrated, further delaying much-needed land reform.
Ndifuna Ukwazi will vigilantly monitor the implementation of the Expropriation Act to ensure it serves the interests of justice and equity. But laws alone are insufficient. Without rational, bold and timely implementation, political will, and a clear commitment to address spatial injustice, the Act risks becoming another symbolic gesture.
The urgency of land reform cannot be overstated. Achieving meaningful spatial justice in our lifetime requires more than legislative progress—it demands courageous political leadership to confront and heal the wounds of over 300 years of dispossession.
