Constitutionality of farm expropriation questioned
THE radical idea that farm workers have paid for the right to part ownership of the farms they work on is core to a policy proposal on land reform — and will likely raise strong questions about its constitutionality.Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti’s policy proposal, Strengthening the Relative Rights of People Working the Land, appears to envisage a share ownership scheme in which farm workers who have worked on a farm for longer than 10 years would jointly own 50% of the farm’s business with the farm owner.And while it may be a bit too soon to start talking about legalities — it is only a proposal and interested parties still have time to comment — already a huge constitutional question mark is hovering over it because the policy proposes a radical idea: that farm workers have already paid for their 50% through years of exploitation and underpayment.Although the word "expropriation" is not used, it appears that the policy — in its current draft — is not vol...
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