Opposition Challenges South Africa's Land Seizure Law in Court
Last update: August 3, 2026
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South Africa's most controversial land law is back in court, and this time it is pitting coalition partners against each other months before crucial elections.
South Africa second largest party in the governing coalition has taken the government to court over the land seizure law that saw Donald Trump cut aid to the country last year.
Cbinews.tv reports that the Democratic Alliance, the DA, filed its challenge on Monday against the Expropriation Act.
It is a move that has caused real friction with its coalition partner, the African National Congress, the ANC, as the country gears up for municipal elections in November.
So what is the law all about? The Expropriation Act allows the state to seize land in the public interest, in some cases without compensating the owner. President Cyril Ramaphosa, who signed it into law in January 2025, says it is a vital step to redress the legacy of apartheid. No land has actually been seized under it to date.
The pro-business and mostly white-led DA sees it very differently. The party argues the legislation gives the government vague and sweeping powers and will deter investment.
For the Ramaphosa-led ANC, a former liberation movement, the law is a milestone in its efforts to transform the country's racially unequal economy, in which the white minority still owns most of the private farmland.
As reported by cbinews.tv, independent political and governance analyst Sandile Swana described the court case as a shadowboxing match, where the two parties would spar over land reform without their relationship breaking down.
South African government has firmly rejected Donald Trump's criticisms of its land reform policies and says the Expropriation Act is comparable to similar laws in many other countries.
The DA case will be heard alongside two other legal challenges launched by groups promoting the interests of Afrikaners, descendants of mostly Dutch settlers whom Trump has offered refuge to, alleging they face discrimination, a claim South Africa vehemently rejects.
The ANC and DA teamed up in coalition in 2024 after an election in which the ANC lost its parliamentary majority for the first time since the end of white minority rule in 1994. Their partnership has been fractious but has remained intact.
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