Parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo. (Photo: Agencies)

CAPE TOWN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Parliament on Wednesday rejected a request from civil group AfriForum to set aside a report on the necessity to amend the Constitution to allow land expropriation without compensation.

Parliament will be opposing the application from AfriForum to have the report set aside, parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said.

This came after AfriForum approached the U.S. Embassy and some other foreign embassies earlier this week, seeking their help to force the South African government to stop its attempt to expropriate land without compensation. AfriForum made the move following the adoption of the report by Parliament's Joint Constitutional Review Committee (JCRC).

Last week, the JCRC adopted its report in favor of an amendment of section 25 of the Constitution to pave way for the state to expropriate land without compensation. Specifically, the committee has recommended that section 25 of the Constitution be amended to make it explicitly clear that expropriation of land without compensation by the state in the public interest should be one mechanism to address the injustices of the past, inflicted on the majority of South Africans.

The committee will present its report to both Houses of Parliament, Mothapo said, adding that Members of Parliament will engage in further debate on the report.

Earlier this year, both Houses of Parliament - the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces - instructed the committee to undertake a process to establish whether a review of section 25 of the Constitution and other clauses is necessary to make it possible for the state to expropriate land in the public interest without compensation.

The JCRC adopted its report following a series of extensive public hearings from June 26 to August 4, as well as a number of workshops and discussions in Parliament.

Thousands of South Africans came to these hearings held in several localities in each of the nine provinces, according to Mothabo.

"They came to join the national conversation about land and its role in building our democracy and redressing the wounds of our past," said Mothabo.

The inquiry which the JCRC undertook will be remembered as one of the most consultative, participatory processes of democracy - outside of the country's regular non-racial elections, he said.

"The process which the committee has now completed is in keeping with the responsibilities which our Constitution demands of Parliament as the legislative authority of our republic," Mothabo said.

The proposed land expropriation without compensation has been strongly resisted by opponents who argue that the process will drive away white farmers, kill jobs and threaten food security.

But the government has assured that it will pursue the land reform without destabilizing the agricultural sector, endangering food security in the country, or undermining economic growth and job creation.

Since taking power in 1994, the government led by the African National Congress has made land redistribution from whites to blacks without compensation one of its priorities.

But land remains predominantly in white hands more than two decades after the end of apartheid, sparking growing discontent among South African blacks.