By Bongiwe Dlamini

MBABANE:The Expropriation Bill, signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday, appears to be heading for the courts- and the Cabinet clearing house-after a furious reaction from the Democratic Alliance (DA) and trade union Solidarity, the Mail and Guardian reported on Saturday.

“Not only have the two threatened to go to court, but Public Works Minister Dean Macpherson, who is a DA deployee to Ramaphosa’s cabinet, took to social media on Friday to say that the policy of expropriation without compensation would not be implemented “under my watch”.Land expropriation without compensation is one of the DA’s so-called red-line issues-like the Basic Education Laws Amendment (Bela) Act and the National Health Insurance-over which the party has stated it will not budge”, reads the Mail and Guardian report.

It has been reported that,the BELA Act was referred to the Cabinet clearing house amid similar threats of legal action and defiance from the DA and Basic Education Minister Siziwe Gwarube, before a compromise was reached and a process of implementation via regulations was agreed upon. 

“The Expropriation Bill, which was passed last year before the ANC lost its parliamentary majority, appears to be heading in the same direction as BELA

In a statement on Thursday, the presidency said Ramaphosa had signed the Bill, which “aligns legislation on expropriation with the Constitution” by replacing the apartheid-era Expropriations Act, which was adopted in 1975”, reads the report in part.