South Africa’s first expropriation of land for restitution was announced recently. The Land Claims Commission (LCC) announced on Thursday that it would be serving an expropriation notice on the owner of the Leeuwspruit farm, near Lichtenberg in North West.
An amendment to the Restitution of Land Rights Act passed last year allows Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza to expropriate land under claim without a court order. Announcing the move on Thursday, provincial land claims commissioner Blessing Mphela said that the expropriation was the last resort of the commission after all talks between the farmer and the commission had broken down.
The expropriation does not come as a surprise to Hannes Visser, owner of Leeuwspruit. He was among five farmers in Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West province who were served with a notice of intent of expropriation when negotiations deadlocked.
At the recent land summit held in Johannesburg, Visser told reporters that the government would force him to sell his land, even though his livelihood depended on it.
Once Visser receives the expropriation notice, he will have 30 days to show cause to Didiza’s ministry why the move should not be executed. In the event of the expropriation he will still be paid R1,75-million for his farm.
”All other avenues should be exhausted before this extreme measure is taken,” said Laurie Bosman, president of farmers’ union AgriSA. ”It sends the wrong message to the outside world for investment and property rights in South Africa.”