Yesterday, the President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa officially signed the Expropriation Bill into law.
Shortly after, the uMkhonto WeSizwe Party (MK Party), led by former South African president Jacob Zuma, released a statement opposing the signing. The statement said the party “vehemently” rejected the bill that the president had signed.
The Expropriation Act 63 of 1975 is a South African law that allows the state to take property for public purposes, such as land reforms and equitable access to natural resources. This simply means that if you ever had vacant land that the government wanted to use, they could take it, as long as it was in the public interest. You, the owner of the land, would then be offered compensation by the state.
The MKP argues that this law further oppresses the black people of this country and continues to support the cruel actions of colonises. They believe that this new signing does not only exploit black people but also disregards the painful past of black South Africans. They say that apartheid and colonisation stole from their forefathers, however, they will not stand by and watch history repeat itself.
The party says that it is determined to return to the black people of South Africa what is rightly theirs. It also calls upon progressive forces to stand with them and fight for justice by rejecting the signing of this bill.
