Lawmakers from South Africa’s ruling African National Congress voted in favour of newly drafted legislation that would allow the government to seize land without compensation in the national interest.

The Expropriation Bill, considered by lawmakers just weeks before the country votes in elections on May 29 in which the ANC is at risk of losing its national majority, will now pass to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who must sign it for the draft to become law.

The draft bill was opposed by the main opposition parties, the Democratic Alliance and the Economic Freedom Fighters, though for different reasons.

The DA claimed the draft was unconstitutional and said they would urge Ramaphosa not to sign it. The EFF said it didn’t go far enough to restore land to people who were disposed during the Apartheid era of White minority rule, which ended in 1994.

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