A recent ruling by South Africa's Constitutional Court (ConCourt) will give greater powers to the state to expropriate land, website Farmersweekly.co.za reported.

The ConCourt ruling now means that the state could expropriate land from private landholders without a prior agreement on the value and time of payment, the story reported.

The story reported  farmers fear the move could delay payments and force landowners to settle for below-market property values.

The court ruling came out of a case between YGM Haffejee Family Trust and the eThekwini Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal.

"Determination of compensation before expropriation will generally be just and equitable, but in those cases where it must be determined after expropriation, it must be done as soon as reasonably possible," the court statement said.

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