The bill combines a series of measures that would see the land expropriated "in the public interest" and "for public purpose," and has passed with both the ANC and several opposition parties voting in favor. "The passing of the bill by parliament is historic and heralds a new era of intensified land distribution program to bring long-awaited justice to the dispossessed majority of South Africans," an ANC statement reads.
Since the fall of apartheid, about 20 million hectares (50 million acres) of land have been transferred to black owners. According to Al Jazeera, that's 10 percent of what the whites there owned in 1994. The ANC aims to raise the amount to 30 percent. But concerns have been voiced the law still requires work, and that there's a lack of clarity on how the measures will be implemented. The Democratic Alliance (DA) voted against. The party sees a problem with the term 'property', fearing that the loose term would create loopholes allowing more than just land to be taken away - such as shares and intellectual property.
Another issue stemming from the legislative requirements is that the sums paid out for the land would not cover outstanding bank payments. According to DA MP Anchen Dreyer, "It is therefore possible that an expropriated owner could end up without a house or farm, and would still need to pay installments on an outstanding bank loan. Which bank would grant such loans?" The United Democratic Movement (UDM) also voted against on the grounds that the bill would leave out those who were dispossessed of their land before the 1913 Land Act.
Comment: The government claims that the Bill is needed to speed up land reform, but only 8% of South Africans want land to farm; at least 73% of land reform projects have failed; and the Government has taken hundreds of farms out of production with little benefit to anyone. Confiscation empowerment to benefit the State done badly...sounds like a plan!
The bill is also likely to rely on more than just the market value of the property, and will also include the land's "current use", "history of the acquisition" and "the purpose of expropriation." One ray of light for the landowners is the possibility of appealing a court's decision on the amount of rand paid out.
The expropriation bill could also hurt investment into South Africa, economists and farmers worry - an issue that's especially salient after a recent drought so severe it led to farmland seizures across the border in Zimbabwe.
The government says it's moving fast with the law so as to correct the mistakes of the past in a swift manner. It promised South Africa would not see the same type of seizures that took place in neighboring Zimbabwe - which was rapidly scaring off investors by forcing companies to close unless they gave up 51 percent of their shares to black Zimbabweans by April 1.
Longtime Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is known for being a scourge on white farmers, and it was reported his supporters now own 40 percent of all land expropriated from them. There is one major difference with South Africa: they weren't being compensated.
"It is essential that all citizens know that their property rights are secure," Dreyer says. "Moreover it is crucial for foreign investment that property rights are secure. The bill in its current form impedes on this confidence."
The plans for "relieving" white farmers of land has been carried out over many years. Many farmers have been murdered: [Link] "More than 1,000 white farmers killed in South Africa since 1990" The numbers given varies as evidenced in this article: [Link] (For a map see this: http://www.crimestatssa.com/)
Each year a lot of peope are murdered, in fact around 18000 people were killed inn 2015 according to [Link] Thus South Africa is among the top 15 countries when it comes to the rate of murder. This may sound bad, and it is, in fact it is like a low level civil war. Anyhow, in spite of all, there is also hope as expressed in this article: "[Link] wheer the writer Rebecca Davis ends here article like this:
"The epilogue to the snowmobiling anecdote is, self-evidently, that we survived. Fingers crossed that this part of the analogy will hold true for South Africans too.
In an address to the Stellenbosch University convocation last year, alumnus Lovelyn Nwadeyi told her audience: “Something is brewing in South Africa. I don’t know the name of that something, but I know that it is irreversible and will continue to brew and boil over whether we give it the permission to do so or not.”
I don’t know the name of that something either, but I look forward to trying to figure it out with you."
In spite of all the trouble SA has gone through and is going through, there is still some optimism left. It is possible that there is a plan to remove Sa from BRICS, but let us see what happens.