VIDEO: Ekurhuleni metro puts to test land expropriation question
On September 27 a landmark meeting by the council of the City of Ekurhuleni saw permission given to the city to start expropriating land without compensation.
ON September 27 a landmark meeting by the council of the City of Ekurhuleni saw permission given to the city to start expropriating land without compensation.
According to the spokesperson for the City of Ekurhuleni, Themba Gadebe, executive mayor Clr Mzwandile Masina plans to initiate this expropriation as a test of Section 25 of the Constitution. The City of Ekurhuleni is the first municipality in South Africa to authorise the expropriation of land without compensation.
The motion which was passed by council identifies four properties in Ekurhuleni as the first properties to be expropriated. The four identified properties are PTN 40 of Farm Rietfontein 63-IR which is 4.4 hectares, REM 2 Elandsfontein 90-IR which is 101.2 hectares, PTN 406 Farm Driefontein 85-IR which is 33.6 hectares and the Remainder of Extent Benoni 77-IR which is 205 hectares.
The first three are privately owned, and the fourth is owned by the provincial government.
The properties were identified as areas where there are already residents squatting, and the owners have “essentially” relinquished their ownership rights.
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Stipulation on the expropriation is that housing be developed as soon as possible as expropriation is not a means to an end. It must form part of an ongoing process to provide a particular purpose. “We want the City of Ekurhuleni to be at the forefront of land reform in Gauteng. We were the first to launch the Rapid Land Release Programme, and now we want to be the first metro in Gauteng to expropriate land without compensation for the purposes of human settlement. Our resolve on this matter is guided by our commitment to serving the people of Ekurhuleni,” Masina said.
The lyrics of the song, “we are taking back our land that was taken by the whites, let them bring back our land”
During the council meeting on September 27, a roll-call was made in the council meeting which forced council members present to vote on the matter individually as apposed to voting as political parties. Alderman Izak Berg, left the room as not to vote during the roll-call. According to Berg he did this as he does not agree with the mayor’s view of changing the constitution, and the ambiguity of the motion.
The passing of this motion in council has created a dangerous precedent. In the motion it is stated that the council reserves the power to expropriate property, subject to the framework in which this function will be delegated to the executive mayor.
What this essentially means is that the mayor holds the power to expropriate land. The framework was approved by the council on September 27.
This all happened before the deadline of November given to parliament on land expropriation. The early adoption of land expropriation in Ekurhuleni is possibly to test the implications of expropriating land in terms of section 25 of the current constitution. Ekurhuleni would thus serve as the guinea pig for possible court test case to see whether it will be successful or not.
No date has been set for the implementation of the expropriation of these four properties, but it is expected to take place soon.
WATCH: Ramaphosa’s ‘killings of white farmers’ comment.
"There’s no land grab in South Africa."
President Cyril Ramaphosa says Trump's tweet about the country's land reform was misinformed pic.twitter.com/xB1C2FZB2G
— Bloomberg Originals (@bbgoriginals) September 26, 2018
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