Expropriation has dire results
Hellbent on the racist tirade that is engulfing our country to sweep up the uneducated masses into a frenzy, the EFF and ANC have no regard for the dire consequences of their unbridled actions.
Zimbabwe is an example right on our doorstep of what the consequences of populistic fascist rhetoric to win votes and implementation without rational thought are: land expropriation without compensation, nationalising the central bank, free education which is hardly sustainable in our present economic climate, legislating for a minimum wage bill which will deprive thousands of workers of jobs at the expense of a few who may benefit.
These are all populist vote-winners hellbent on securing an election success in 2019, albeit at the expense of the welfare of the poorest of the poor: an electorate that has been deprived of an education and thus not able to make subjective decisions.
Consider the following scenario:
● A white farmer is the owner of a successful citrus farm near an Eastern Cape village;
● Five Xhosa families live on the farm;
● During the harvesting season 50 extra labourers are employed from the village;
● The intention is to plant another citrus orchard which will require funding but will greatly improve the farm’s output, providing more work opportunities;
● The farming operation is highly geared and to secure working capital, a bank facility, underwritten by a substantial bond over the property, has been arranged;
● A claim for repossession in terms of the proposed legislation is made;
● The instigators prove that their forebears were “dispossessed” and demand expropriation without compensation.
What will the consequences be?
● The farmer will immediately cease developing the farm any further and will in fact reduce the scale of operation to minimise his eventual loss;
● The farmer will reduce his labour force;
● Alternatively, the farmer, under threat of losing his farm, will exploit the land, disregarding farming conservancy practices to maximise immediate, short-term profits;
● Repossession of the farm will have dire consequences for the farmer.
The bank, that now stands to lose any hope of recovery against the mortgage, will immediately foreclose on the farmer personally, and in this instance sequestrate his estate, leaving the farmer and family homeless and penniless;
● Who now owns the farm – there are some 50 claimants?
Is the farm to be broken up into smaller portions? Is it to be farmed as a collective?
● Who will make these decisions? In our corrupt culture will we see another Zimbabwe frenzy by politicians and government employees?
● No bank will mortgage properties in future and the raising of working capital will be problematic;
● Without qualified expertise and guidance, the citrus operation has no chance of success, adversely affecting SA’s economy and export markets;
● The existing job opportunities for outside labourers will be lost.
The lucrative citrus farm will soon be nothing more than good for subsistence farming.
Is this an exaggeration? Look no further than Zimbabwe and already in our own country, where examples abound.
Does the proposed legislation mean that no white South African will be allowed to purchase a farm or land?
Listening to EFF leader Julius Malema’s rhetoric, white farmers are no longer wanted.
No matter how President Cyril Ramaphosa tries to ameliorate the land question, the fundamental threat of expropriation hangs like a sword of Damocles over every farmer.
Already some of the consequences are the loss of investor confidence, exacerbating unemployment and the recession we are now in.
However, there is no doubt the ground question must be solved. It can only be done if sanity prevails and the advice of wise heads are heeded.
Former president Thabo Mbeki says, “The ANC has violated two fundamental prescriptions of the Freedom Charter: that SA belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that the land shall be shared amongst those who work it.”
He goes on to say, “If the ANC abandons these two principled and strategic positions, it must accept it is turning its back on its historical position as ‘the parliament of the people’.” (Barney Mthombothi’s column in the Sunday Times, September 30).
It is very easy for hotheads in the EFF and ANC to sweep up the uneducated populace with land expropriation rhetoric to win votes.
They do not personally have to bear the tragic responsibility for their actions today: destroying our fragile economy and starvation as in Zimbabwe at present.
The answer is surely a compromise between white expertise and black ownership.
And, as a start, give the enormous reserves of government and tribal-held land to black farmers, assisting with training and access to working capital on a practical and continuing basis.
Encourage white and black partnerships by offering attractive tax relief, crop incentives and so on.
Our country is riddled with corruption and so much shame about state capture that one can only pray that sanity will prevail.