An ANC proposal to amend the constitution to explicitly allow the seizure of land without compensation has failed to secure enough MP votes, potentially ending one of the governing party’s biggest policy reforms, which has soured sentiment in boardrooms and raised political stakes.

The proposal, framed as part of wider efforts to tackle yawning land disparities in the country, needed a two-thirds majority necessary to pass an amendment to the constitution. The ANC has 230 seats in parliament and required at least 267 votes to pass the bill. Of the MPs present in the house and on the virtual platform, 145 members voted against the bill, with 204 members supporting the proposed amendment...

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