AfriForum files court application challenging constitutionality of Expropriation Act

JOHANNESBURG - Lobby group AfriForum has filed an application to challenge the constitutionality of the Expropriation Act in the High Court.

The group has been at the forefront of challenging the controversial piece of legislation.

The act was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in December and allows the state to expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons.

AfriForum said it has approached the courts to declare the Expropriation Act unconstitutional, saying it contains serious flaws and is a great threat to the constitutional right to private property in South Africa.

It also said certain sections and provisions of the act contain inherent contradictions.

But the lobby group has also made an alternative prayer to the court for an order that makes those specific provisions declared unconstitutional.

AfriForum has highlighted what it called major flaws in the act, saying it allows for a property owner to be deprived of their property while the matter of its expropriation is being challenged in court.