The Government is embarking on significant new initiatives to
advance land reform.
This includes the new Expropriation Bill which was released for
public comment at the end of March, the Restitution of Land Rights
Amendment Bill which was released for comment on 23 May 2013 and a
new Land Tenure Bill which is currently being circulated within
Government departments and which has not yet been released.
The new Expropriation Bill follows a number of earlier Bills
which have been prepared by the Department of Public Works, the
last of which was introduced in the National Assembly in mid-2008
and then subsequently withdrawn. The old Bill was unconstitutional
because it attempted to oust the jurisdiction of the courts and
provided that the State could acquire property at a discount if the
purpose was to redress former inequalities.
