1. Allow laws to be changed in parliament with a simple 51% majority … so now they can change laws at will even more easily.

2. Dump the idea of a court system for seizing land from whites without compensation (note this can be anyone – not just farmers – even in cities)… the decision to seize such land can occur outside of having a judge preside over the matter.

This might also indicate the extremely bad state of the Govt itself. It may be that these blacks are finding the opposition from white farmers and their organisations to be too much, so now they just want to seize whatever they want, when it suits them. But it might indicate certain weaknesses that they have and they need to get their way, hence this communist stuff. Jan]

Expropriation of land without compensation

Despite concerns raised by investors, political opposition parties and key stakeholders, President Ramaphosa confirmed that government was ready to table an expropriation bill outlining the circumstances under which expropriation of land without compensation would be permissible. In December, just before the festive season, parliament published an invitation in the Government Gazette calling on the public to provide written submissions on the draft legislation by 31 January 2020.

Concerns have been raised that the new bill extends beyond the mandate of the ad hoc committee appointed to specify under what conditions land could be expropriated without compensation. The draft bill makes it clear that both land and “any improvements thereon” are subject to expropriation without compensation. Furthermore, in its current form, the draft bill also empowers parliament to implement additional laws by a simple 51% majority that set out specific circumstances where the amount of compensation is nil. In other words, it expands the circumstances under which no compensation could be paid. In a shock move, the ANC recently proposed to move the arbitration powers from the courts to the executive in terms of compensation to be paid. In our view, the bill in its current form and the proposal to give the executive more power are not business or investor friendly.