Ramaphosa signs law to allow govt to ‘grab land’

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a controversial land expropriation bill into law.

The law, which replaces the pre-democratic Expropriation Act of 1975, allows the government to seize land in the name of “public interest.”

The state has always had the ability to expropriate land, however the reasons for doing so have changed since 1994 with the advent of democracy in the nation.

Per Section 25 of the Constitution, public interest includes not just public services such as transit and hospitals, but “the nation’s commitment to land reform, and to reforms to bring about equitable access to all South Africa’s natural resources.”

-Western Standard