SA’s New Agricultural Bill Amidst Expropriation Tensions

Key points in this article:

• Legislative Overshadowing: The focus on the contentious Expropriation Bill has overshadowed the less-discussed but potentially transformative Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill, signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
• Agricultural Growth Focus: The new bill aims to secure agricultural land for long-term food production and economic growth, establishing a framework for sustainable land management and use.
• Government Oversight Concerns: The Freedom Front Plus has expressed apprehensions about the bill potentially giving the government excessive control over agricultural decisions, which could lead to prescribed farming practices.
• Support Amidst Controversy: Despite the overshadowing by the Expropriation Bill, Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has praised the new agricultural legislation for its role in protecting high-potential farmland and promoting food security.

The enactment of the controversial Expropriation Bill has sown seeds of concern across South Africa, prompting not only domestic debate but also international scrutiny from figures like U.S. President Donald Trump.

In parallel, President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill, which, unlike the Expropriation Bill, has garnered less public and media attention.

At the end of January 2025, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill, aimed at ensuring agricultural land supports long-term food production and contributes to economic growth. According to the Presidency, this legislation supports the government’s objectives for the sustainable management and use of natural resources, establishing a national policy and regulatory framework for the preservation and development of agricultural land.

The bill is designed to create an enabling environment for the agricultural sector’s development, protecting and preserving agricultural land for its productive use, ensuring it remains viable for agricultural expansion. The Presidency emphasised that the law reinforces South Africa’s efforts to use agricultural land optimally to support long-term food production, which will have a positive impact on the economy. The legislation also calls for provincial agricultural sector plans to coordinate and harmonise land use policies for a sustainable agricultural environment.

However, the Freedom Front Plus has raised concerns that this law could be used to give the government undue influence over agricultural decisions.

“Several agricultural organisations are concerned that these provisions could give government – through the various committees for which the law also makes provision – the power to prescribe to individual enterprises what they should do regarding production; for example, prescribe which crops to plant.”

They further warned about the severe penalties for non-compliance, noting, “This must be understood in the context of reckless entrepreneurs who start non-agricultural activities on agricultural land and simply claim the resulting fine as an expense. The FF Plus has noted several possibilities for exploiting the Act. Therefore, farmers are encouraged to participate in the legally required public participation process, whether in their personal capacity or as part of an organised body. A government that is happy to expropriate property at zero compensation must certainly not be given free rein to centralise agricultural decisions.”

On the other hand, Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen has welcomed the signing of the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill into law, highlighting that it replaces the Subdivision of Agricultural Land Act of 1970 (Act no. 70 of 1970), as valuable agricultural land has been lost at an alarming rate for non-agricultural purposes.

Steenhuisen pointed out that only 13% of South Africa’s 122 million hectares of land is high potential agriculture land, and enhancing food security is one of the Department of Agriculture’s strategic priorities.

He stated, “We want to create an environment for agriculture to prosper and to ensure the sector creates much-needed jobs and food security. The ability to protect and preserve high potential agriculture land for this purpose is one of the essential tools to achieve this goal.”

An advisory committee, consisting of no more than ten members, will be established to advise on achieving the objectives of this Act and on matters concerning the preservation and sustainable development of agricultural land. His office has also emphasised the need for a national regulatory framework to coordinate the preservation and development of agricultural land proactively, preventing fragmentation, promoting viable farming units, and encouraging optimal land use for food security.

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As the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill promises to promote food security and more, the Expropriation Bill is finding itself under fire from various entities, including the American Leadership, with President Donald Trump now setting his sights on South Africa’s leadership.

To read more on this subject, click here.

As the Expropriation Act and the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill are both set to impact South Africans significantly, what are your thoughts on the above?

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