IRR Legal drafting papers to challenge EWC Act in court

IRR Legal is drafting papers to challenge the Expropriation Act in court. The recently signed law allows for expropriation without compensation (EWC) on an open-ended range of circumstances.

The are several flaws with the EWC Act, as it has come to be known, which the IRR has warned against publicly for years. Its procedural flaws alone disqualify much of the EWC Act from being implemented.

However, it is worth emphasising that the EWC Act allows the state to punish private citizens, and residents, of any race, in cases where an owner primarily aims to sell their vacant property for a profit. The profit motive is treated explicitly by the EWC Act as a factor that can result in “nil” compensation being paid upon expropriation by the state.

But profit is not the enemy, poverty is.

Turning the pursuit of profit into a de facto crime, as the EWC Act does, turns economic growth into a dream that is once more deferred. Since 2010 South Africa has failed to grow economically in real terms, primarily due to counterproductive, anti-profit policies emanating from Parliament and the Union Buildings. This trend of immiseration is one that the EWC Act is set to perpetuate.

The IRR has vocally championed the property rights of all South Africans for years, and public opinion has been shown to be strongly against the erosion of property rights. However, President Cyril Ramaphosa has failed to heed the majority’s interest, the Constitution’s requirements, and his presidential duty.

What remains to be done is to have the EWC Act struck down in court.

Media contact: Gabriel Crouse, IRR Legal Executive Director Tel: 082 510 0360 Email: gabriel@irrlegal.org.za

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