EXPROPRIATION
Lessons we can learn from Elon Musk to untangle the land snafu
We need to move beyond the wild assertions and political hype that have so far characterised discussion of this crucial issue, writes Owen Skae
The latest call for land expropriation without compensation should go way beyond smart marketing, or "smarketing", by the ANC and EFF around this flashpoint. Everyone is very worked up about this call, but what does it actually mean? No one knows, no one has any details and that is why Parliament is establishing a committee to start working out the who, what, when, where and how. There is an alarming lack of factual detail about this crucial issue. The media is full of wildly differing inputs, from the 4% registered ownership of land by black people, the government owning vast areas of land and not passing on title to the people and the banks having R180bn exposure to land as collateral, to land audits that never add up and land costs that are never explained. A small farm bought for R3m in 2007 on a 15-year bond, for example, requires a payment of about R37,000 a month to the banks — and this excludes development costs, purchase of livestock, seed, machinery or staff salaries. The ...
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