By Dylan Bettencourt
- The City of Ekurhuleni took 34 hectares in Boksburg in 2019 without paying Business Venture Investments 900 a cent for it.
- The owners say the land is worth R30-million, while the city says unused land earns nothing and should cost nothing under housing law.
The City of Ekurhuleni and a private company are heading for a legal battle over South Africa’s first big test of land expropriation without compensation.
Back in 2019, the city took 34 hectares of land in Driefontein, Boksburg, without offering the owners any money. The land belongs to Business Venture Investments 900, which is not fighting the expropriation itself – only the zero rand price tag.
The city and the company will start court-ordered mediation on Friday, 31 October. If they cannot agree, the case will go to trial in February.
The company says the land is worth more than R30-million. It was bought for R1-million in 2005 from a related business, which it says was an internal deal that didn’t reflect market value.
Ekurhuleni argues that the land has stood empty for over 30 years, has brought in no income, and was not bought at market price.
It plans to use the site for housing and township development. The city says it acted under Section 9(3) of the Housing Act, which allows municipalities to take land for housing.
But law lecturer Dr Tanveer Jeewa from Stellenbosch University says Ekurhuleni may be acting too soon. She explained that the Expropriation Act of 2024, which allows zero compensation in some cases, is not yet in effect.
Freedom Front Plus leader Corné Mulder warned that a ruling for zero compensation could harm property rights, while ANC regional secretary Jongizizwe Dlabathi said owners of land acquired through apartheid “shouldn’t get a cent.”
Pictured above: The City of Ekurhuleni.
Image source: ActionSA
