Three years since Parliament first adopted a motion to consider amending the Constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation, the process has come to nought on Tuesday.
Opposition parties — including the EFF who originally initiated the motion in early 2018 — refused to support the bill over a major sticking point on the state custodianship of land.
The house required a two-thirds majority to support changing the Constitution.
In the end, 204 MPs voted in favour of the bill and 145 against, with no abstentions. A total of 267 votes is required for a two-thirds majority.
During the debate, ANC MP Mathole Motshekga, who chaired the ad hoc committee that drafted the bill, said the House had an opportunity by adopting the bill to “eradicate the original sin in the interest of all South Africans”.
The focus will now shift to the Expropriation Bill, which is currently making its way through the Parliamentary process.