The ANC has decided to change the Constitution to expropriate land without compensation.

This was decided at a two-day lekgotla held in Irene, outside Pretoria, which concluded on Tuesday.

The move is seen as one which reflects the majority perspective expressed at the ongoing hearings on land taking place across the country headed by Parliament’s Constitutional Review Committee.

Business Day understands that a decision was taken by the ANC national executive committee lekgotla to “amend the Constitution to explicitly allow for expropriation without compensation”.

The party is set to make a submission to the parliamentary process under way to this effect.

The decision has far-reaching consequences for both the South African economy as well as its political space. It comes following yet another quarter in which the South African economy has shed jobs, with Statistics SA announcing an increase in the unemployment rate on Tuesday. The move is set to further dent investor sentiment and confidence by local business in the economy.

However, it can be viewed as a decidedly political move to neutralise the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) whose members have been dominating parliamentary hearings on whether the Constitution should be amended.