White South African farmers preparing to run as ‘land reform’ gets closer to reality By Rick Moran
White South African farmers find themselves under the gun as the ruling ANC party prepares plans to sieze farms from whites without compensation.
What the ANC is calling “land reform” would be “catastrophic” according to one lobbying group. Even black farmers are saying any plan to take land without compensation would be “unrealistic.”
Tensions among the country’s white farming community have been rising since the election of Cyril Ramaphosa assumed office earlier this year and committed his African National Congress (ANC) to land expropriation.
And ANC chairman Gwede Mantashe sparked panic last week when he said: “You shouldn’t own more than 25,000 acres of land.
“Therefore if you own more it should be taken without compensation.
“People who are privileged never give away privilege as a matter of a gift.
The group representing white farmers reports that a record number of farms are up for sale – but no one is buying:
Omri van Zyl, head of the Agri SA union, which represents mainly white commercial farmers, said: “The mood among our members is very solemn.
“They are confused about the lack of any apparent strategy from the government and many are panicking.
“So many farms are up for sale, more than we’ve ever had, but no one is buying.”
Analysts warn the move could undermine property rights and deter investment.
In neighbouring Zimbabwe, violent land seizures authorised by Robert Mugabe in the 1990s sent the country into a spiral of decline from which it has never recovered.
Analyst Henrik Gullberg said: “Markets are sensitive to anything perceived to be ‘Zimbabwe-fication’ on the land-reform front.”
Black farmers – the supposed beneficiaries of expropriation – are dubious of the plan:
The National African Farmers’ Union (Nafu), which represents the country’s black farmers, said the scheme would lead to job losses.
Nafu president Motsepe Matlala said: “From a practical and economical point of view it will not work.”
Political analyst Marianne Merten said: “The narrative that expropriation without compensation is the silver bullet is simplistic and unrealistic.
“Land will be a central issue in the looming 2019 election year, and rhetoric is always easier than transformative action.”
It isn’t only land that whites fear losing. The lesson of Zimbabwe is that there is a chance of a complete breakdown in law and order with roaming gangs of blacks slaughtering white farmers. The government has yet to address the issue of law and order in rural South Africa as there is already rampant crime to contend with.
To watch transfixed as a semi-modern nation self destructs before our eyes is horrifying. It’s possible that cooler heads in government will prevail and some kind of land reform can be implemented without such drastic measures. But ANC politicians continue to go out on a limb and up the ante every time they open their mouths about land reform without compensation. They already may have gone too far to pull back.
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