South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Expropriation Bill, outlining the process for state entities to expropriate land for public benefit under various circumstances.

The new legislation abolishes the 1975 Expropriation Act and outlines the key principles of the expropriation, recognized in the constitution as an “essential mechanism for the state to acquire someone’s property for a public purpose or in the public interest, subject to just and equitable compensation being paid.”

The law allows authorities to “expropriate land in the public interest for varied reasons that seek, among others, to promote inclusivity and access to natural resources.”

According to the law, land can only be expropriated in case there has been an attempted and failed agreement on the acquisition of the land in question.