What concessions were made? One of the suggestions relating to Mandela ‘selling out’ is that he sold out on property clauses and that it is impossible to expropriate, a constitution which was not of course made by Mandela alone. Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke says this is a fallacious reading of section 25 of the constitution:
“The Constitution does not protect property, it merely protects an owner against arbitrary deprivation. Deprivation that is not arbitrary is permissible. The property clause does not carry the phrase, ‘willing buyer: willing seller’, which is often blamed for an inadequate resolution of the land question. The state’s power to expropriate does not depend on the willingness of the landowner.
“The compensation may be agreed but if not, a court must fix it. The compensation must be just and equitable and not necessarily the market value of the land. Market price is but one of five criteria the Constitution lists for a court to set fair compensation. The property clause is emphatic that the state must take reasonable measures, within available resources, to enable citizens to gain access to land on an equitable basis.”