Civil rights organisation AfriForum announced on Thursday that it will prevent the Expropriation Act’s promulgation, saying it significantly jeopardises private property rights and must be opposed to the end”.

Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Bill, which repeals the pre-democratic-era Expropriation Act of 1975 and sets out how State institutions may expropriate land in the public interest.

The Bill was passed by the National Council of Provinces in March, having been adopted by the National Assembly in 2022.

The Act is facing mixed reactions, with some opposition parties and civil society organisations, such as AfriForum, threatening legal action against it.

On Thursday, during a media briefing in Pretoria, AfriForum announced its three-point plan for fighting the Act, which it said would include an anti-promulgation action, legal action and an international awareness campaign against the  Act.

Last week, the organisation appealed to Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure Dean Macpherson to refuse to be a co-signatory of the Act’s proclamation.

“Under Section 101(2) of the Constitution, a minister must countersign if the act affects a function assigned to the relevant minister. However, if Macpherson countersigns the act, AfriForum is prepared to take him and President Cyril Ramaphosa to court due to the irrationality of their actions,” said AfriForum head of public relations Ernst van Zyl.

Van Zyl said the organisation will test the constitutionality of the Expropriation Act in court, explaining that according to AfriForum’s legal team, the organisation has good grounds to do so.

He noted that the main objection that AfriForum had against the constitutionality of the Act was the fact that the Constitution required just and equitable compensation.

“…however, the act expressly provides for nil compensation in specific cases, but those cases are not limited. AfriForum maintains that this creates serious risks for arbitrary actions by expropriation authorities,” he stated.

AfriForum will also approach international role players and inform them about the risks and AfriForum’s criticism of the law.

The aim of AfriForum’s international campaign was to mobilise opposition to the Act’s threat to private property rights from abroad, Van Zyl said.

“AfriForum and other organisations serve as the final line of defence between the government and private property owners. Wherever the undermining of private property rights has occurred, such as in Zimbabwe and Venezuela, it has had catastrophic economic consequences. We must, therefore, use every option available to us in our resistance against this destructive law,” he explained.