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Anthea Jeffery: State 'custodianship' and control over all SA agricultural land
'Custodianship' has a pleasant ring to it. Though much slower and ponderous, U.S. Department of Agriculture regulatory fiat accomplishes essentially the same ends. This provision echoes the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act (MPRDA) of 2002, under which all mineral resources have effectively been expropriated without compensation. The new measure is called the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Framework Bill of 2015 (the Bill). It was gazetted in mid-March this year for public comment by 30th May, and has generally passed unnoticed by the media. Things seem to go 'unnoticed' very easily when the media is gov't controlled. This bill contains a key clause stating: 'Agricultural land is the common heritage of all the people of South Africa and the Department [of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries] is the custodian thereof for the benefit of all South Africans.' This provision is remarkably similar to a clause in the MPRDA, which says that 'mineral resources are the common heritage of all the people of South Africa and the State is the custodian thereof for the benefit of all South Africans'. The meaning of this MPRDA provision came before the courts in the Agri SA case. Here, the key question was whether expropriation had occurred when an unused old-order mining right 'ceased to exist' under the MPRDA and became vested in the State as the custodian of all mineral resources. You didn't create that farm or those minerals, someone else did that for you. Posted by: Besoeker 2015-06-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=419297 |