Gordhan: Land issue urgent

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told the Financial Times Africa Summit in London yesterday that President Cyril Ramaphosa “offers best prospect of turning the economy around”, saying people both locally and globally must understand the ‘terrible legacy’ of colonialism and apartheid.

Gordhan detailed Ramaphosa’s investment drive and also explained that trust in state institutions such as the SA Revenue Service (Sars) has taken a knock.

“We had one of the best revenue services, built over 10 years… damaged in one year,” he said.

Regarding land, Gordhan defended the ANC’s policy, saying “our priority is still to get people both inside and outside the country to understand that colonialism and apartheid left us with a terrible legacy”. He stressed that the issue of land needs to be dealt with now or it will continue to hurt the South African economy.

Gordhan appears to be taking cues from Ramaphosa on how to present the idea of land expropriation without compensation in a way that would not discourage potential investment in South Africa.

Addressing the recent adoption of the motion brought by the EFF to change section 25 of the constitution to allow for land expropriation without compensation, Ramaphosa adopted a conciliatory tone.

The ANC had overwhelmingly supported the motion in the National Assembly, which Ramaphosa described today as a necessary measure to deal with the “original sin” of land having been taken by the colonial and apartheid regimes from black people. – Citizen reporter