South Africa needs an effective and fair land expropriation law to help ignite economic growth and revamp its dilapidated cities, the country’s public works and infrastructure minister said.

The comments by Dean Macpherson — a member of the Democratic Alliance (DA), the second-biggest party in the unity government which opposes the current act — highlights the complexities surrounding the debate on land reform in South Africa. The law led US President Donald Trump to halt aid and claim that property is being seized from White people in Africa’s biggest economy without compensation. No land has been confiscated since apartheid ended in 1994.

Restitution for Blacks stripped of their right to own property during Whites-only rule is given as the primary motivation for the law that South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed in December, angering Afrikaner rights groups. But Macpherson, argues a “just and fair” policy is necessary for development.

“You can’t grow an economy, which requires expanding ports, railways, harbours, airports, transmission servitudes, without the ability to expropriate,” he said in an interview in Johannesburg. “The real problem with expropriation is that it’s been weaponised by both the right and left.”

The DA is challenging the law because of what it sees as vague wording around compensation or, in some cases, the lack of it. The party and Ramaphosa’s African National Congress are the leading parties in a ruling coalition.

The government can’t be expected to pay whatever owners ask for on land it needs to carry out development as that would lead to speculation, Macpherson said, adding that equitable compensation needs to be paid.

“It’s in the country’s interest for an act that is fair and allows the courts to make a determination on what is just and equitable to be able to move forward,” he said.

South Africa’s coalition government is placing massive infrastructure investment at the heart of an attempt to kick-start economic growth. Among the projects planned are the expansion of the transmission grid to accommodate a growing amount of renewable energy.

“We’ve got to find a clear path through because without an efficient and effective act, how do we roll out 14 500 km of transmission lines,” Macpherson said.

Expropriation could also be used to take over abandoned buildings in cities including Johannesburg, which are now dilapidated and home to thousands of squatters living in dangerous conditions.

“In those instances where those buildings are contributing to crime or contributing to decay, there may very well be a case for expropriation,” he said.