South Africa's Land Seizure Law Challenged In Court

South Africa’s Land Seizure Law Challenged in Court SOUTH AFRICA South Africa A South African court this week began hearing a challenge to the country's land expropriation law, legislation that has strained relations within the governing coalition and was cited by US President Donald Trump last year as a reason for suspending aid to South Africa. The White-led Democratic Alliance (DA) – a senior partner in the ruling coalition with the African National Congress (ANC) – asked the Western Cape High Court to declare key provisions of the Expropriation Act unconstitutional. The party has argued that the law gives the government "vague and ​sweeping powers" to expropriate private property and undermines legal certainty over property rights. Signed last year by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Expropriation Act allows the government to seize land in the public interest and, in some cases, without compensating the owners. The government insists that the legislation is aimed at redressing the economic inequality that is a legacy of the policy of apartheid, when millions of non-White South Africans were forcibly displaced from their lands. Despite the end of apartheid in the 1990s, around three-quarters of South Africa’s privately owned farmland today remains under the control of White South Africans – who make up less than 10 percent of the country’s population. No land has been seized so far, but the law has been the subject of lengthy debates and remains a major point of contention within the ruling coalition. The ANC and DA teamed up after the 2024 parliamentary elections, which saw the ANC lose its absolute majority for the first time since 1994. The legislation and other affirmative action policies have also heightened tensions with the Trump administration, which has accused South Africa of allegedly enabling a “genocide” against white South Africans. Last year, Trump signed an executive order suspending US financial aid to South Africa and creating a refugee program specifically for Afrikaners – most descendants of Dutch settlers – citing concerns they were being persecuted. South Africa has strongly rejected those claims. Analysts noted that the case will be heard alongside two similar legal challenges brought by groups representing Afrikaner interests. The court could take years to reach a verdict. Still, the proceedings come as the country gears up for pivotal local elections in November.