LAEL BETHLEHEM: The right kind of expropriation
Chancellor House was expropriated, with compensation based on market value, for heritage purposes
As the whole world now knows, a recent legislative amendment could make it possible for the SA state to expropriate property without compensation — albeit within a narrow set of circumstances. This is a risky amendment and should be used with extreme care once it is gazetted, if at all. The question is whether it was necessary, given the already extensive powers of the state under the long-standing expropriation legislation.
I have direct experience of using this legislation as a state official. That experience suggests the law already had extensive power but was seldom understood by officials. In 2010, while working as CEO of the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA), I was involved in expropriating a property on the basis of public interest. This has turned out to be a rare case, especially because the building was expropriated for heritage purposes. ..
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