“THE BILL BRINGS CERTAINTY TO SOUTH AFRICANS AND INVESTORS BECAUSE IT CLEARLY OUTLINES HOW EXPROPRIATION CAN BE DONE.”

— Minister of public works and infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, announced the submission of the Expropriation Bill, 2020 to parliament.

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If the bill, to replace the current Expropriation Act of 1975, passes, authorities would be required to negotiate with owners of land to try to reach an agreement on the acquisition of the property, before it can be seized. Land would be confiscated without reimbursement in certain cases if it is unused, abandoned or poses a safety risk, among other conditions. The bill was certified as constitutional by the chief state law adviser.

“OBSTACLES TO A FASTER RECOVERY ARE ELECTRICITY SHORTAGES AND RECORD-HIGH GOVERNMENT DEBT LEVELS.”

– The South African Reserve Bank stated in its bi-annual Monetary Policy Review (MPR) that power cuts and high sovereign debt are likely to be the biggest obstacles to SA’s recovery from the Covid-19 crisis, . The MPR confirmed that while the Reserve Bank expects the repo policy rate to gradually move higher through 2022, it is likely to remain at low levels for an extended period. It expects that the repo rate will be kept unchanged at the current 3.5% through the end of 2021.

“An excessive fine.”