South African cities want to use Expropriation Act to take buildings without paying

The City of Tshwane wants to use the Expropriation Act to address and repurpose derelict, hijacked, and abandoned buildings in the capital, with 32 sites already identified as needing urgent attention.

This was the message from Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya during her State of the Capital address on Thursday (10 April). 

For years, the city has grappled with the proliferation of hijacked properties, which has led to crumbling buildings and rampant crime.

Some buildings have become drug dens, others are neglected private properties, and some are city-owned buildings left to fall apart.

This issue, affecting commercial and residential areas, has resulted in significant structural blight and a serious threat to public safety and economic stability.

In her address last week, Moya said the current state of the city’s CBD is not befitting of a national capital due to these derelict buildings.

To combat the issue, she added that a dedicated mayoral subcommittee had been established to tackle the crisis of neglected buildings in the Pretoria CBD.

Kholofelo Morodi, the MMC for Corporate and Shared Services, will lead the subcommittee under what Moya called the Bad Buildings programme. 

Moya added that in the last two months, 32 high-priority buildings in the Pretoria CBD have been identified for urgent action, which include those considered to be expropriated.

The mayor further noted that the city had already handed over the Schubart Park Precinct and is finalising an agreement for the Kruger Park Building.

Other targeted buildings include the HB Phillips Building, the Pretoria Showgrounds, the House 22 Precinct and the Melgisedek Building.

According to the mayor, the buildings targeted by the programme will create 15,000 to 22,000 units for student accommodation and affordable housing rentals. 

“To fast-track development, we have already begun town planning and site preparation to ensure that these properties are spade-ready when released to the market,” she said. 

Moya added that the programme is expected to attract significant private-sector investment and catalyse economic activity across the CBD.

Plan to expropriate buildings

In an interview with City Press, Morodi, head of the subcommittee overseeing the Bad Buildings programme, noted that the city is developing a legal pathway to reclaim the derelict buildings.

She noted that the first mechanism will be the Problem Building By-law, which aims to amend and update the 2012 Derelict Buildings By-law. 

Morodi noted that the new by-law is still in draft form but will give the City more power to address hijacked and neglected buildings, including government and privately owned ones. 

She added that the new by-law will bring the owners’ urgent need to address their buildings to their attention and force them to act. 

However, Morodi added that if the owners do not address the building’s problems, the city will invoke the Act and expropriate the property. 

The Expropriation Act was signed into law in January this year, outlining how the government can seize land and other property.

While there are concerns over the Act’s broader economic and political consequences, the new law introduced the ability to expropriate land in the public interest.

This is the section of the Act that the City of Tshwane will use to remedy the state of the buildings it deems abandoned and derelict. 

“You can expropriate if it’s for public purposes, and the act allows us to expropriate if it’s in the public interest,” said Morodi.

She explained that unlawful occupation, risks to public health or unsafe conditions qualified for expropriation under that public interest clause.

Morodi said that the city is already engaging with top management to present their proposals for the government buildings earmarked for repurposing. 

She noted that the city will wait for the new by-law before considering expropriating privately owned buildings.

“In the private sector category, there are even buildings that don’t owe the city a cent, yet they are completely derelict. We are preparing to handle that,” she said.

Cyril Ramaphosa says government can use new Expropriation Act to take buildings without paying

In March 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the government can use South Africa’s new Expropriation Act to take abandoned buildings in cities’ central business districts without paying.

The president made the comments during a visit to the City of Johannesburg, where he conducted an oversight mission ahead of the G20 Summit.

The President slammed the state of the city, noting the painful sight of the deterioration in the city centre.

“You have many abandoned buildings. Buildings that have either been hijacked and are not paying rates and taxes.”

He said these abandoned and hijacked buildings could become investment vehicles where South Africans can be accommodated.

“These abandoned buildings, where the owners have run away, should be subjected to the law we have just passed, expropriation, even without compensation,” he said.

“These buildings should be taken and turned into living accommodation,” he said, adding that this strategy aligns with the Constitution and the Expropriation Act.

This is the first time Ramaphosa clearly stated that the Expropriation Act could be used to take properties other than land without compensation.

It confirms that the government intends to use the Act to take various properties, potentially without payment.

However, critics—such as political scientist Dr Frans Cronje—argue that focusing on land expropriation without compensation overshadows the broader impact on economic stability.

Cronje noted that allowing the state to take fixed or movable property for less than its market value significantly weakens property rights.

He warned that this uncertainty would deter foreign and domestic investment, which is crucial for economic growth.

South Africa’s fixed investment to GDP ratio should be between 25% and 30% to foster sustainable development, but it currently stands at just 15%.

Without strong property rights, raising this figure becomes unlikely. Cronje warns that the Act is more than just a land reform measure—it fundamentally alters the investment climate.

“Investors need clear, objective guidelines for property rights, and removing market value as a key factor in compensation creates instability,” he said.