It is early 2010.  We are standing on one of Johannesburg’s old yellow mine dumps, looking south. In the middle distance is the magnificent FNB Stadium that will host the Fifa World Cup final.

In the official announcement, land expropriation committee chairperson Dr Mathole Motshekga said this clears the way for the committee to start engaging and deliberating on the “wording and format” of the 18th Constitutional Amendment Bill. He continued:

Through interminable public debates, across iterations of expropriation and land governance legislation, and through a succession of policy proposals, we have warned against the threat of state encroachment and the ideological infrastructure supporting it.

For more than a decade the Institute of Race Relations has fought a dogged defence of property rights in South Africa. 

The impact of mining operations on rural communities is a contentious issue in South Africa. There is also concern about the manner in which communities are consulted about mining on their land.

Last week South Africa received a $1 billion loan from the New Development Bank, the bank set up by the Brazil, Russia, India, China, and ourselves, often known as the Brics bank.