Thank you, hon Speaker. We would like to assure this House that the amendment of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, in order to enable the expropriation of land without compensation remains a commitment and a priority of this administration. The government will not deviate from this policy.
As a reminder to all of us, the Freedom Charter sets out fundamental principles that emphasise, among others, equal rights, shared opportunities as well as the pursuit of redress, redistribution, social, economic and spatial justice.
In practical terms, the Charter foresees a direct role for both public and private property ownership, a developmental role of the state, a state with legal authority, political will and the desired resources to address the imbalances of the past
We have said in this House, and elsewhere, that the land reform process shall be pursued in a responsible manner that seeks to address the following objectives: sustained
inclusive economic growth, address the skewed concentration of ownership by large corporations and monopolies, diversify the economy through reindustrialisation, manufacturing and beneficiation.
In other words, we are pursuing a land reform programme for increased agricultural production, for integrated human settlements in order to address apartheid spatial planning, and for industrial use to support manufacturing and other means of production.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Reform and Agriculture, tasked with co-ordinating and providing political leadership to accelerated land reform, is currently finalising government's comprehensive response to the recommendations that were made by the Panel of Experts on Land Reform. A comprehensive response to the Panel's recommendations will be presented to Cabinet for consideration and approval.
It is worth pointing out that the Panel of Experts on Land Reform has supported the amendment of the Constitution to set out unambiguous provisions for
expropriation of land without compensation. The panel also supports the finalisation of the Expropriation Bill to enable land expropriation within a properly guided legislative framework.
In as far as the work of the Constitutional Review Committee towards the amendment of section 25 of the Constitution is concerned; the Chairperson of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee announced that the committee will be able to meet its deadline to amend the Constitution.
He has indicated that the committee would have completed its work by March 2020, as directed by this House. He has given the assurance that everything is on track to meet this deadline.
We are confident that Parliament will be able to finalise its own processes within the planned schedules.
In the meantime, the government will proceed with the development and tabling of the Expropriation Bill currently underway to provide for the expropriation of
property for public purpose or in the public interest. This process will not be affected by the parliamentary process for the amendment of section 25 of the Constitution. Thank you, hon Speaker.