Unpacked: Each party’s arguments in the Expropriation Act case

Daily Maverick · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Aug 05, 2026 · 1915 words · By Dianne Hawker-Kalubi

headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing

Generate a natural audio summary of this story

Daily briefing

What to know about Unpacked: Each party’s arguments in the Expropriation Act case

The Expropriation Act is being scrutinised from every angle, from the timing of its drafting, the delay by President Cyril Ramaphosa in publicising its signing, the wording used in certain sections of the Act and whether it measures up to section 25 of the…

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center80%

Right20%

5 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The high court, sitting in Cape Town, is currently hearing five days of argument in a collection of cases challenging different aspects of the Act, which would allow the state to seize property “for nil compensation” under certain circumstances.

Common ground

A full bench of three judges is hearing the case, with those challenging the law’s validity and constitutionality including governing coalition member the Democratic Alliance (DA), Afrikaner lobby-group AfriForum and policy advocacy group IRR Legal, a sister…

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Unpacked: Each party’s arguments in the Expropriation Act case?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that President Cyril Ramaphosa, who signed the law in December 2024 and announced the signing in January 2025?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2026-08-05-unpacked-each-partys-argument…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 5

check_circle Corroborated 5

info Single Source 3

help Insufficient Evidence 1

verified Verified By Reference 1

help

Claim 1: “President Cyril Ramaphosa, who signed the law in December 2024 and announced the signing in January 2025”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was found in the provided search results to confirm the specific dates of signing (December 2024) or announcement (January 2025).

schedule

Claim 2: “Section 25(1) of the Constitution prohibits arbitrary deprivations of property.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 3: “the law is meant to replace the outdated Expropriation Act of 1975”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 4: “those challenging the law’s validity and constitutionality including governing coalition member the Democratic Alliance (DA), Afrikaner lobby-group AfriForum and policy advocacy group IRR Legal”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources explicitly name the Democratic Alliance (DA), AfriForum, and the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) Legal as parties challenging the Act.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — General elections were held in South Africa on 29 May 2024 to elect a new National Assembly as well as the provincial legislature in each of the nine provinces. This was the seventh general election h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_South_African_general_ele…

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Afriforum is a South African organisation which focuses on the interests of Afrikaners, a subgroup of the country's white population. Afriforum was established by the trade union Solidarity in 2006 an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AfriForum

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is a research and policy organisation in South Africa. The IRR was founded in 1929 to improve and report upon race relations in South Africa between…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Institute_of_Rac…

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 5: “section 12 of the Expropriation Act provides the relevant circumstances where seizure without compensation could take place. It then lists examples, including unused speculative land, unused state land acquired for no considerations, abandoned land and land whose market value is equalled or exceeded by the direct state investment of subsidy”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 6: “the wording of these paragraphs says this should be done after the “notice of expropriation” is received.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific claim that court action should occur after the 'notice of expropriation' is received is mentioned only in the 'Unpacked' source.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — It stipulates that if the expropriating authority and land owner can’t reach an agreement through mediation or consensus, either party can approach the court. However, the wording of these paragraphs …
https://www.namibian.com.na/unpacked-each-partys-arguments-i…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Dispute Resolution: The Old Expropriation Act provided for arbitration or court referral for disputes. The New Expropriation Act introduces mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism, in…
https://www.mfp.co.za/constitutional-law/the-expropriation-a…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Sechaba Nkoana. The consolidated court cases of the DA, supported by their surrogates, the AfriForum and the Institute of Race Relations, are aiming to have the land expropriation law declared invalid…
https://iol.co.za/opinion/2026-08-11-land-expropriation-the-…

check_circle

Claim 7: “The high court, sitting in Cape Town, is currently hearing five days of argument in a collection of cases challenging different aspects of the Act”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that the Western Cape High Court (which sits in Cape Town) is hearing consolidated cases challenging the Expropriation Act.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Cape Town is the legislative capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's second-largest city by population, afte…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Eastern Cape High Court (in full the Eastern Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. T…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Cape_High_Court

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Western Cape High Court (in full the Western Cape Division of the High Court of South Africa) is a superior court of law with general jurisdiction over the Western Cape province of South Africa. T…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Cape_High_Court

+ 3 more evidence sources

check_circle

Claim 8: “the Act... would allow the state to seize property “for nil compensation” under certain circumstances.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the Act allows for expropriation without compensation under specific, exceptional, or just and equitable circumstances.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa ( RAM-ə-FAW-sə or RAH-mə-POH-sə; born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the president of South Africa since 2018. A former anti-apar…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Ramaphosa

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — Eminent domain, also known as land acquisition, compulsory purchase, resumption, compulsory acquisition, or expropriation, is the compulsory acquisition of private property for public use. It does not…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eminent_domain

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Expropriation Act, 2024 (Act No. 13 of 2024) is an act of the Parliament of South Africa that establishes the framework for compulsory property acquisition by South African government entities. Th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expropriation_Act,_2024

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 9: “section 19 (2) and 19 (3) set out the process for resolving a dispute over an expropriation offer from the state. It stipulates that if the expropriating authority and land owner can’t reach an agreement through mediation or consensus, either party can approach the court.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The specific detail regarding sections 19(2) and 19(3) and the mediation process is mentioned in one detailed analysis ('Unpacked'), but not independently corroborated by other provided sources.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The section sign (§) is a typographical symbol for referencing individually numbered sections of a document; it is frequently used when citing sections of a legal code. [1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section_sign

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Section. If an internal link incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Section

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · Some common synonyms of section are division, fragment, member, part, piece, portion, and segment. While all these words mean "something less than the whole," section applies to a relativ…
https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/section

schedule

Claim 10: “Section 25(8) of the Constitution further provides that no provision of section 25 may impede the state from taking legislative and other measures to achieve land, water and related reform in order to redress the results of past racial discrimination.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info

Claim 11: “only a court can deliver a “notice of expropriation”.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The cross-reference mentions an 'irresolvable circularity' regarding sections 19(2) and 19(3), but does not explicitly state that only a court can deliver a notice of expropriation.

compare_arrows

cross reference SUPPORTS — sections 19(2) and 19(3) of the act created what he described as an “irresolvable circularity”
https://timeslive.co.za/politics/2026-08-03-da-defends-its-c…

check_circle

Claim 12: “A fourth organisation, Vaderland Stigting, has also filed papers in the case.”

CORROBORATED

Two independent web search results confirm that Vaderland Stigting has filed papers or is an applicant in the case.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A fourth organisation, Vaderland Stigting, has also filed papers in the case. The organisation represents farming interests. The Presidency, Parliament and the Economic Freedom Fighters are presenting…
https://www.namibian.com.na/unpacked-each-partys-arguments-i…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The court is hearing applications brought by AfriForum , the Vaderland Stigting, the DA and other applicants, each challenging different provisions of the legislation, while the president, parliament,…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2026-08-04-exp…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — We Are Challenging the Expropriation Act in Court. On Tuesday, 20 May, we will be filing our court papers in the Cape Town High Court to challenge the constitutionality of key sections of the Expropri…
https://www.givesendgo.com/StopExpropriationWithoutComp

check_circle

Claim 13: “The Presidency, Parliament and the Economic Freedom Fighters are presenting counter-arguments in court proceedings.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm that the Presidency, Parliament, and the EFF are presenting counter-arguments or are parties to the proceedings.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Presidency, Parliament and the Economic Freedom Fighters are presenting counter-arguments in court proceedings. Here’s what you need to know. DA’s challenge to process.
https://www.namibian.com.na/unpacked-each-partys-arguments-i…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — She said parliament had changed the legislation so that compensation disputes would generally be dealt with before expropriation but had failed to update a cross-reference in section 19. The provincia…
https://www.businessday.co.za/news/2026-08-11-news-analysis-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Western Cape High Court hears a court challenge brought by the AfriForum, the Instititute of Race Relations Legal and the DA against the Expropriation Act.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlBdoeJzbPw

schedule

Claim 14: “AfriForum and IRR Legal have taken a different route, challenging sections 12(2)(e), 12(3), and 12(4) of the Act.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 15: “A full bench of three judges is hearing the case”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While evidence confirms the case is being heard in the High Court, none of the provided sources explicitly mention that a 'full bench of three judges' is presiding over the matter.

menu_book

+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.