The government is incorrect to state that President Donald Trump’s comments on expropriation in SA are "misinformed".
The government has committed itself to a policy of expropriating private property without compensation. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that his party will support changing the constitution to that effect.
Several ruling party and government officials have stated that they will seek to implement such a policy even before a constitutional amendment. Implementation has begun, with the first expropriation notices already having been delivered. The charged political atmosphere has further encouraged land invasions that have seen some farmers lose control of their property.
I am afraid that the government is hoist with its own petard on the expropriation question — and its denials ring almost as hollow as the assurances that such expropriation will be executed without harming the economy.
The only way out now is a dignified retreat in which the policy of expropriation without compensation is abandoned in its entirety. It should be replaced with a sincere attempt to position SA as a competitive investment destination so that we may drive the economic growth rate to a level that will allow us to cut the unemployment rate in half over the next decade.
On the question of land, emerging commercial farmers must be supported with soft loans, grants, title deeds and effective extension services, as we have long argued for.
Frans Cronje CEO, Institute of Race Relations
https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/letters/2018-08-27-letter-abandon-this-land-policy/
