Cape Town – AfriForum’s court application to have certain sections of the Expropriation Act – which, among other things, enables expropriation without compensation – declared unconstitutional is being heard in the High Court in Cape Town starting today, Monday, 3 August 2026.
Meanwhile, IRR Legal, a division of the Institute of Race Relations, has joined AfriForum’s case as a co-applicant.
In court papers, AfriForum cited President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, the Speaker of the National Assembly, and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces as respondents in the matter.
Subsequently, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Minister of Land Reform and Rural Development applied to be admitted as respondents as well.
Separate court applications against the Expropriation Act brought by the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Vaderlandstigting are being heard alongside that of AfriForum and IRR Legal.
AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel said his organisation has appointed a top-tier legal team ready to challenge the Expropriation Act in court.
“Fighting expropriation without compensation is not only in the interest of landowners; it is in the interest of everyone in the country,” said Kriel.
“The example of Zimbabwe clearly demonstrates the destructive impact that the disregard for property rights has on a country and its entire population.
“The only people who stand to benefit from this legislation are a small political elite.
“Meanwhile, the poor – falsely portrayed as the intended beneficiaries – will be hit hard by unemployment, hyperinflation, and rising poverty.
“The millions of Zimbabweans fleeing to South Africa due to poverty serve as proof of the devastating consequences that disregarding property rights has for everyone.”
Kriel points out that implementing the Expropriation Act in its current form will have far-reaching consequences.
He said, for instance, a landowner’s property could be expropriated without compensation before a court has ruled on the validity and amount of the expropriation.
Consequently, Kriel said a landowner – having already lost their land and source of income – would have to fight the expropriation in court at their expense for approximately five years, given the time it takes to bring a contested case before the court.
“Most landowners lack the funds to engage in a protracted legal battle against the state, which litigates using taxpayers’ money,” Kriel asserted.
AfriForum’s Head of Public Relations, Ernst van Zyl, said the ANC’s top leadership has repeatedly made it clear that they remain committed to their mission of expropriation without compensation.
“The only thing standing in their way is this court case,” he concludes.
Meanwhile, DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis, who is also the mayor of Cape Town, said: “We are in court because the right to own property is fundamental to freedom, dignity and economic opportunity and because no government should be given vague and sweeping powers to take what belongs to South Africans without compensation”.
He said this case was about every family’s home, every entrepreneur’s business, every worker’s pension and every South African who hopes one day to own something they can call their own.
“The DA will ask the Court to declare the Act unconstitutional and invalid,” Hill-Lewis said.
“We will demonstrate that it was passed through a defective parliamentary process and that key provisions are vague, contradictory and incompatible with the constitutional protection of property.
“We will oppose expropriation without compensation in court, in Parliament and in government.
“We will not stand by while the foundations of ownership, investment and economic freedom are weakened.”
Hill-Lewis said the DA rejects expropriation without compensation, whether it is called “nil compensation”, “custodianship” or anything else.
“Lawful expropriation for a legitimate public purpose must remain subject to due process, independent judicial oversight and just and equitable compensation,’’ the DA leader said.
“The answer to the historic denial of property rights is not to make property rights less secure. It is to extend secure ownership to millions more South Africans.”
To add to the intrigue, one of the respondents in the matter is the Minister of Public Works, Dean Macpherson, who is a DA member in the Government of National Unity.
All eyes are on the court, which has set the matter to be heard from today to the 7th of August.
