The National Assembly has voted to adopt the report of the Constitutional Review Committee on the review of Section 25 of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
The proposed Constitutional review will allow for land expropriation without compensation in South Africa.<\/p>\n
209 MPs voted for the report to be adopted, while 91 voted against the adoption. Those in opposition to the report included the DA, IFP, ACDP, FF Plus and COPE.<\/p>\n
Ahead of the vote, the National Assembly heard how 449,552 authentic written submissions were made on the proposal for the Constitution to be amended.<\/p>\n
Notably, the report found that 65% of the written submission were in opposition to the amendment.<\/p>\n
However, Stan Maila – who was a co-chairperson for the Joint Constitutional Review Committee – noted that because the process was not a referendum the number of people against the amendment of the Constitution was not relevant.<\/p>\n
The adoption of the report comes after a protracted public consultation process, followed by country-wide public hearings, which saw people from all walks of life making written and oral submissions.<\/p>\n
Depending on the resolution from the House on Thursday (6 November), the report will now be forwarded to either a portfolio committee or an ad hoc committee which will convene to determine its programme going forward.<\/p>\n
With the Constitution having been amended 17 times before, this is the first time that an amendment will be made on a section in the Bill of Rights and will necessitate an intensive public consultation process.<\/p>\n
As such, the selected committee is bound to produce a draft Bill which will be made available for public comment for at least 30 days.<\/p>\n