Johannesburg - The Gauteng provincial government is banking on the signing of the controversial Expropriation Bill into law to meet its land needs and to drive its massive infrastructure programmes.
The Bill reached its final leg in Parliament on Thursday when the ANC used its majority for its adoption before it will be signed into law by President Jacob Zuma.
The signing of the Bill into law will sound the death-knell to the inefficient willing-buyer and willing-seller principle on land redistribution.
Zuma has been itching to get his hands on the Bill as he has called for the fast-tracking of the Bill and other land laws to speed up land reform.
On Friday, Gauteng MEC for Infrastructure Development Jacob Mamabolo also welcomed the signing of the Bill and said its effect when it becomes law will be “ground breaking for us”.
“I think we will be in far much better position to meet our land needs and ensure that we drive and deliver infrastructure,” Mababolo said, speaking ahead his department’s budget vote in the provincial legislature.
Gauteng has identified infrastructure development as one of its key priorities in an effort to transform, modernise and revitalise the provincial economy and drive job creation.
The province planned to spend R30 billon on infrastructure plans that were announced by premier David Makhura last year..
But Mamabolo said the province did not have land for business development.
“Given that Gauteng is a small province and we have high concentration of property developers, we don't have enough prime land and our land is problematic because of the history of mining,” he said. “The challenge of high rate of speculation in land prices affects us seriously and complicate negotiations on land pricing. It's also an area that is exploited for corruption.”
Mamabolo said the Bill will deal with matters pertaining to pricing of land. His department has completed putting together an immovable asset register portfolio of land with and without buildings in the province worth R30 billion.
A total of 7 000 pieces of different items of land with and without buildings currently sits on the province’s immovable assets portfolio.
In September, Mamabole said, the department will unveil the immovable asset register to local and international investors. The portfolio will also be presented in the upcoming Gauteng Economic Indaba.
The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development is the custodian of the provincial government's immovable assets that excludes roads and infrastructure properties and those used for human settlements.
According to recent reports, there has been illegal transfer of state properties to private individuals in Gauteng in areas such as Waterkloof Ridge in Pretoria that had been uncovered.
The Star