IMF supports land reform as long as its transparent and constitutional
The International Monetary Fund echoes UK Prime Minister Theresa May in this regard, but says it is unlikely to revise its growth forecast for SA upwards
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave its full backing to SA’s land-reform plan on Thursday, as long as the highly contentious process is transparent and based on the constitution. The fund’s senior resident representative in SA, Montfort Mlachila, said the reform must not damage farm output to ensure South Africans continue to have reliable food supplies. President Cyril Ramaphosa has said the ANC plans to change the constitution to allow the expropriation of land without compensation, as most of it is still owned by members of the white minority. "We are in full support of the need to undertake land reforms in order to address the issues of inequality," Mlachila said in an interview. Nearly a quarter century after the end of apartheid, the country remains racially divided and unequal, and the ANC plan aims to improve the lives of the many poor black South Africans. The debate erupted again last week when US President Donald Trump said he had asked US secretary of state Mike P...
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