Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Public Works has announced the withdrawal of the bill in a media statement.

According to Kallie Kriel, CEO of AfriForum, the retraction of the Expropriation Bill is proof of the power that civil society can exert when its organisations cooperate with one another.

AfriForum and 15 other civil organisations have been conducting a joint campaign against the Expropriation Bill.

The campaign included actions such as several presentations made against the bill to the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee, a petition campaign opposing it and two conferences held in order to muster support for the recognition of property rights.

AfriForum also sent requests to all embassies in the country, asking them to exert pressure in order to prevent the passing and implementation of the Expropriation Bill.

Kriel said that any new expropriation legislation should not contravene property rights.

The Expropriation Bill's stipulation that the expropriation amount may be less than the market value of the property and that market value will not be the determining factor, would, according to Kriel, have deterred local as well as international investors, had it been implemented.

"Why would someone invest in property - either moveable or immoveable, if the person were to know that such property could be expropriated at any time at a lesser and one-sidedly determined amount," Kriel asked.

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