IRR statement
The economic implications of expropriation without compensation (EWC), which risks jeopardising South Africa’s economic recovery, are matched by the damage politicians are doing in their handling of the debate – creating expectations that can never be met, worsening racial tensions, destabilizing the social fabric, and promoting land invasions across the country.
This warning from Frans Cronje, CEO of the Institute of Race Relations (IRR), arises from his engagements with communities of concerned South Africans over the past week.
Cronje is currently touring South Africa briefing people on how they will be affected by EWC and what they should to do ‘stop the policy and avoid catastrophe’.
‘There is growing concern among ordinary people, business owners, and foreign investors about the implications of EWC. Farms are merely the thin end of a wedge to set a precedent on eroding property rights more broadly, with the risk of EWC spreading in time to other industries and sectors of the economy.
‘It is clear from the feedback we have received that EWC makes South Africa uninvestable and that it will deny the country any chance of staging an economic recovery.
‘What’s more, the manner in which politicians are presenting the EWC policy is creating expectations that can never be met, worsening racial tensions, destabilizing the social fabric, and promoting land invasions across the country.’
Cronje encouraged concerned South Africans ‘to unite around campaigns to place pressure on the South African government and the investor community to stop EWC’.
‘If property rights are eroded, this may set in motion a chain of events that will destroy South Africa’s democracy, given that property rights anchor human freedom in all free societies’.
‘Given what is at stake, the future of all South Africans is as much at risk as that of commercial farmers,’ Cronje said.
· The IRR is urging South Africans to endorse their opposition to EWC in a letter to be delivered to President Cyril Ramaphosa, here.
