De Lille, de lies, & de property rights: SA must kill the Expropriation Bill before it kills property rights

South Africans only have until 10 February to oppose the ANC's Expropriation Bill, proposed legislation that will accelerate the destruction of the right of people to own their own homes and property.

Over the last few months, the Institute of Race Relations has fought against this Bill to protect South Africans’ fundamental rights. With the closing date for public comment approaching, we urge all South Africans who have yet to comment to make their opposition to the Expropriation Bill heard before it’s too late.

There should be no doubt: Expropriation without compensation as advanced by the Expropriation Bill empowers the state at the expense of all South Africans who want to securely own a home, a farm, a business or any other kind of asset. South Africans must not believe the lie that the scope of the Bill is narrow – it simply isn't. Patricia De Lille's Expropriation Bill continues the ANC’s hollow charade of using the emotive issue of land dispossession as cover for doing what the apartheid government did: destroying property rights to the detriment of millions.

While the current Expropriation Act is in need of amendment, the Expropriation Bill magnifies uncertainty at a time when doing so risks catastrophic economic and humanitarian consequences.

The government has sought to promote the notion that this Bill adheres to the rule of law by involving the courts constructively in the process of expropriation. This is another convenient fib. It is not in practice up to the courts to decide when nil compensation will be paid in terms of this Bill. The courts will only enter the process after government has robbed you of an asset, and the direct loss is not something you can be compensated for. Contrary to its propaganda, the government remains in the driving seat on this road to the destruction of property rights through political thuggery.

Whether this Bill is passed or rejected in Parliament will be a historic marker of South Africa’s future trajectory. It will determine whether our country is headed towards becoming a despotic, failed state or whether it retains the potential to flourish economically and politically through allowing people to own securely what they've worked hard to earn.

South Africans must #StopEWC. They must use this chance to #KillTheBill by endorsing the IRR’s opposing submission: https://irr.org.za/campaigns/kill-the-bill-stop-ewc.

Media contact: Hermann Pretorius, IRR Head of Strategic Initiatives – 079 875 4290; hermann@irr.org.za

Media enquiries: Duwayne Esau, IRR Strategic Communications Officer – 081 700 0302; duwayne@irr.org.za

Michael Morris Tel: 066 302 1968 Email: michael@irr.org.za

Kelebogile Leepile Tel: 079 051 0073 Email: kelebogile@irr.org.za

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