THE government's drive to implement expropriation without compensation EWC is incompatible with South Africa's hopes of economic recovery.
Much lip service is paid to the goal of achieving economic recovery. Steering South Africa back on to the path of growth and rising prosperity is the avowed aim of the government's Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan, tabled in Parliament by President Cyril Ramaphosa last month.
In fact, it contains nothing of substance and is a wish list. But its greatest deficiency is that the goal of growth is undermined by the government's determination to change section 25 of the Constitution to allow for EWC.
Property and property rights underpin economic activity, and are vital in gaining the confidence of investors without whom recovery is impossible. Threatening property rights is the kiss of death for the economy.
Pressing ahead with amending section 25 is guaranteed to trigger an exodus of investors, and wreck any hope of gaining new investment. What South Africa needs to bring its dying economy back to life is a commitment to protecting and expanding property rights, not least in the sphere of land reform.
Abandoning EWC and the process to amend section 25 of the Constitution must be first step if South Africa is to achieve genuine recovery. The government needs to decide: it can either have EWC or economic growth and investment, but it can't have both.
Hermann Pretorius
Deputy head of policy, Institute of Race Relations
