Whites must pay for ANC’s failures

Expropriation of land

I AM a great admirer of Prof Jonathan Jansen, his columns contain great wisdom. I, therefore, read his column on land reform (“Temper anger with reality”, March 15) closely and yes, I must agree, as a white farmer, I am angry about the current direction land reform is taking.

Perhaps I can explain to Jansen why I am angry. It is not because I don’t want black people to have land and that what happened in the past needs to be rectified.

I think it is common knowledge that by far the largest proportion of whites support the DA, so if anyone wants to know the attitude of whites to land reform they can look at the DA policy.

The problem is not land redistribution, it is “without compensation”.

The anger stems from:

1. For more than 20 years South Africa has had a constitution which catered for the redistribution of land.

In all that time, despite having full control of the budget, the ANC government has achieved very little in that area and many other areas.

Having lost a lot of support with the electorate, it now starts with this debate.

I have read and listened to President Cyril Ramaphosa very closely, and have heard what he has said.

The problem is that having created the expectations, he is now going to have to deliver somehow.

The EFF is already saying that the debate is over, the decision made, it is only the fine print we are talking about.

It seems that the whites must pay for the ANC failures;

2. Why has the ANC not made land available to people who need it for homes?

And why doesn’t it give people the title deeds? Is it because it wants to retain a hold over people?

The government should clearly define what it is talking about: land for homes, farms, factory land?

3. For the 10 years of the ANC under Jacob Zuma, it is common knowledge that our economy underperformed.

Just as we emerge from that nightmare and things look better, we start on something that could be far worse for the economy, jobs and poverty.

Zuma peddled the myth that the reason why the majority of black people are poor is that they don’t have land.

The reality is they are poor because they don’t have an education.

Jansen knows all about that;

4. We have to hear from many politicians that the whites stole the land. If that is true, theft is a crime and any land that has been stolen can be taken back under common law and the thieves prosecuted.

The fact is that all land owners today (black and white, as far as I know) have obtained their land by purchase, as can be proved by title deeds.

They have paid the transfer dues, the deeds office registrations, the bond registrations, the bonds, the rates, etc.

Individuals today cannot be expected to pay for previous government policies.

As the ANC took over the assets and liabilities of that government, and the ability to levy taxes and allocate expenditure, it is in its hands to address the situation without making individuals pay;

5. Why are we not hearing about land which has always been under black control, the land under the Zulu king and others?

Is the redistribution of this land under discussion and if not, why not?

Can a modern economy with 55 million people afford to have millions of hectares lying underutilised and under the control of so few?

I am very sure that Ramaphosa (as a property owner) and his faction of the ANC would not have initiated this debate as he will be very aware of the potential damage to South Africa.

Instead of finding support on the DA side of the political spectrum and having the courage of his convictions, he is pandering to the failed left wing and even now to the EFF.

Hugh Collett, Kenton-on-Sea