Parliament’s Joint Constitutional Review Committee will start hearings this week on the South African government’s plan to introduce land expropriation without compenation.
Committee chairman Vincent Smith says there must be the widest possible participation in this opportunity to build almost just and equitable country.
The parliamentary committee was established to review section 25 of the Constitution – which deals with the right of property ownership.
Since being mandated by both houses of parliament, it has received more than 700 000 written submissions from the public by the closing date of June 15.
Parliamentary spokesman Moloto Mothapo says the committee is hiring a service provider to assist with analysing the submissions.
Only clearly identifiable submissions that can be traced back to a name, cellphone number or email address, will be considered.
Mothapo says a final draft of the report is expected to be submitted by August 3, by which date the committee will have concluded its public hearings in the provinces and will be heading back to Parliament to continue its work.
He says instead of some viewing the hearings on land expropriation as a threat to their livelihoods, they must take advantage of the process as a right everyone enjoys under the Constitution to express their views in order to build a just, fair and inclusive society.