Reflections on 2025 and the policy space for 2026

The year 2025 was a year characterised initially by a wave of misinformation, particularly relating to legislation and tariff issues. This year some big moves are expected in the trade space.

- Theo Boshoff

As much as we tried to predict the policy developments that would require attention in 2025, nothing could have prepared us for the wave of misinformation that we had to deal with at the beginning of the year. First up, news broke in January that President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the controversial Expropriation Act into law.

DIVERGENT OPINIONS

Whilst the Act is yet to enter into legislation, divergent opinions about its implications ran like wildfire.

Some claimed that it is the long-awaited solution to our land reform challenges whilst others claimed that it would herald the end of private property rights as we know it.

Naturally, the truth is somewhere in the middle, but 2026 is likely to be far more pivotal. The Act in its current form is still open to criticism.

The chances of a court agreeing that nil compensation is just and equitable seems exceedingly remote and would require truly exceptional circumstances.

In fact, 2026 may be a far more telling year as we are likely to see test cases and court judgments on when nil compensation will be just and equitable.