The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) on Thursday welcomed the high court finding that the state expropriated mineral rights when the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act came into effect in 2004.
“This expropriation had earlier been described as the largest theft in the history of South Africa,” CDP leader Theunis Botha said in a statement.
“It brought the country perilously close to Zimbabwe’s land grab, and yet government insisted that it was not expropriation,” he said.
“We trust that government will respect the judgment and not waste taxpayers’ money further by appealing against it.”
The High Court in Pretoria found that “the objects of the MPRDA could not be achieved without depriving mineral rights holders of their property and without vesting in the state similar rights.
“While not expressly stated, expropriation was one of the purposes of the MPRDA,” Judge Ben du Plessis said in passing judgment.
The finding would entitle mineral rights holders to claim for financial loss suffered as a result of the expropriations, AgriSA said after the judgment, earlier on Thursday.
It was a direction-giving ruling in terms of protecting property rights, AgriSA president Johannes Möller said in a statement.
“Agri SA's intention with this test case was to prove 1/8the 3/8 expropriation of mineral rights... would oblige the state to pay compensation.
“This ruling confirms the fundamental principle in Section 25 of the Constitution, namely that property cannot be expropriated without compensation,” he said.
Agri SA has asked those who have suffered financial loss to lodge claims by April 30.
It compiled a guideline for instituting claims for compensation, and forwarded this to all its provincial agricultural unions affiliates. - Sapa