As is highlighted in its preamble, the purpose of the New Act is to “provide for the expropriation of property for a public purpose or in the public interest”. It should be emphasised that “property” refers to both movable and immovable property. Our focus in this article is, however, on comparing certain changes in relation to immovable property. A notable addition to the purpose of the New Act is to “identify certain instances where the provision of nil compensation may be just and equitable for expropriation in the public interest”. This contrasts with the Old Act, which simply states that its purpose is to provide for “the expropriation of land and other property for public and certain other purposes”.

When considering the New Act, it is apparent that it adopts the language of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (Constitution) throughout its provisions. The preamble further refers to sections 25, 33 and 34 of the Constitution, which provide as follows:

While there were discussions at a parliamentary level to amend the Constitution to specifically provide for expropriation without compensation, the relevant amendment bill did not proceed. However, Burton Meyer of CDH is of the view that such an amendment was not necessary in any event. Read more here.
The legislature seems to agree with this position given the additional purpose of the New Act highlighted above.

The New Act has introduced several changes to the law surrounding expropriation of land, the procedures which must be followed by expropriating authorities, and the recourse available to the owners of expropriated land. We highlight a few key differences between the Old Act and the New Act:

This is but the tip of the iceberg, beneath which there are more complex issues to unpack and understand.
To find out more, tune in to our webinar on Thursday, 13 February 2025 at 09h00 (CAT) Register here.