The further suggested amendments to Section 25 of the Constitution – shortly before the deadline – is nothing more than the ANC trying to coax the EFF before the elections.
The ad hoc committee must complete their work today, 31 May 2021, but announced on Friday that they now want to amend the entire Section 25 and not just specific sub-sections. The relevant sub-sections are those the EFF had been hammering on since the process started. It entails that any natural resources (and property) can be expropriated without compensation as long as it is in the public interest or for a public purpose.
“This description is purposely vague so that the government can expropriate anything in private ownership without compensation,” says Mr Henry Geldenhuys, the president of TLU SA. “The EFF is very vocal about their socialist agenda, and these suggestions fit in 100%. The EFF had made it very clear that they will not under any circumstances give a step back on these suggestions. It is thus crystal clear that the ANC’s about-turn after bilateral discussions with the EFF is their attempt at winning support before the coming election.”
The ad hoc committee will ask the parliament to extend the deadline to amend Section 25 by 30 days since they have not completed their task.
“The ANC and EFF will probably use the extra time to decide who will expropriate which properties and who will benefit from it,” says Mr Geldenhuys. “The sudden announcement by the ANC to amend the entire Section 25 is certainly not to serve the purpose of ‘participatory democracy’ as the chairperson described it. It is important to listen to ‘the people of South Africa’. But it is also important to be realistic and admit that the economy won’t carry these suggestions.”
Photo by Yuriy Bogdanov on Unsplash
