{"id":838412,"date":"2025-09-29T08:53:51","date_gmt":"2025-09-29T06:53:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=838412"},"modified":"2025-09-29T08:53:57","modified_gmt":"2025-09-29T06:53:57","slug":"dean-macpherson-must-eat-his-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/838412\/dean-macpherson-must-eat-his-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Dean Macpherson must eat his words"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said there will be no expropriation of private property without compensation on his watch. However, it has already happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Expropriation Bill into law, repealing the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new Expropriation Bill outlines how organs of State may expropriate land in the public interest for various reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many experts have criticised the new Expropriation Bill, which gives the state and various state organs the power to expropriate property without compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law experts from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said South Africa\u2019s new Expropriation Act may conflict with the country\u2019s Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is because the constitution does not allow for the arbitrary deprivation of land and stipulates that the expropriated party must be compensated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA filed papers in the High Court to challenge the Expropriation Act, arguing it is unconstitutional, both substantively and procedurally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DA said it would fight to ensure that every South African can have their property rights defended, protected and advanced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) agreed with the DA, saying the Act is unconstitutional and threatens property rights, investor confidence, and economic stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agri SA warned that expropriation without compensation could jeopardise food security and production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It explained that many South African farmers use land as an investment and as a home, risking financial ruin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Expropriation Bill is so controversial that the United States listed it as one of the demands to mend relations with South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said there should be no land expropriation without fair market compensation. Expropriation should only proceed after all legal processes have been fully exhausted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson must eat his words<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson defended the new Expropriation Bill, stating that it is a common practice worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“People keep trying to pretend that the concept of expropriation exists only in South Africa. It is an internationally standard practice for governments to acquire land,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that<\/a>, \u201cAs the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, there will be no expropriation of private property without compensation on my watch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe guarantee of property rights under Section 25 of the Constitution is not up for debate and is non-negotiable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to be unequivocal: No one in SA is having their land confiscated. As the minister of public works and infrastructure, land grabs will never be allowed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that this was his commitment to the people of South Africa and the country\u2019s partners around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are many examples of South Africans having their land confiscated without compensation and land grabs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In one of the recent cases, the City of Ekurhuleni in the Gauteng province has expropriated a 34-hectare property, known as portion 406 of the Farm Driefontein, without compensation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of expropriation, the owner was applying for development rights, and the property was valued at a minimum of R30 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, A large private property of about 120 hectares was partially invaded by land grabbers. The invaders are refusing to leave despite threats of eviction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many other examples of land grabs and expropriation without compensation, which show that Macpherson\u2019s claims are misguided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BusinessTech contacted the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure for comment, but there was no response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said there will be no expropriation of private property without compensation on his watch. However, it has already happened.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":818844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[20230,19085,19039],"class_list":["post-838412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-dean-macpherson","tag-department-of-public-works-and-infrastructure","tag-expropriation-bill"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838412"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838414,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838412\/revisions\/838414"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}