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A South African advocacy group pushing for the rights of white farmers will challenge in court Thursday President Cyril Ramaphosa's plan to amend the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation.
Ramaphosa, who replaced Jacob Zuma last February, has made land redistribution a flagship policy as he seeks to unite the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and gain public support ahead of time. elections next year.
Land is a hot topic in South Africa, where racial inequalities are deep even 24 years after the end of apartheid. Whites – 9% of the 56 million inhabitants – still own more than 70% of agricultural land.
Since the end of the white minority's rule in 1994, the ANC has followed a pattern of "voluntary seller, willing buyer" whereby the government buys whites-owned farms to redistribute them to blacks. Progress has been slow.
Afriforum, a advocacy group that primarily represents white Afrikaners, questions the legality of a report from a key parliamentary committee that recommends amending the constitution, according to court papers reviewed by Reuters.
Afriforum indicates that the committee illegally appointed an external service provider to compile the report and also did not consider more than 100,000 submissions opposing the expropriation of land without compensation.
"We want the court to return the report to the committee and ask it to repair the wrongs," Willie Spies, Afriforum's attorney, told Reuters.
Parliament, where the ANC has an overwhelming majority, filed an affidavit in response stating that Afriforum was trying to defeat the legislative process.
Parliament stated that the report had been produced by its staff and that it had reviewed all submissions.
"The Afriforum dispute is, in any event, inappropriate. The report is clearly an intermediate step with no final effect, "the Parliament said in court documents.
The commission's report is just one step in a long process of amending the constitution. If the court decides that the report does not need to be referred for further examination, it is expected that the National Assembly will adopt its recommendations in early December.
Subsequently, it is expected that a new bill proposing the exact amendments contemplated to the constitution will be submitted to parliament and increased public participation.
It is only when both houses of Parliament approve amendments to the constitution that it will be sent to Ramaphosa for ratification. It is unlikely that this process will be completed before the parliamentary elections in May.
Ramaphosa gave little details on how a constitutional change would be implemented, but says any reform will not affect investment, economic growth or food availability.
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