LAND REFORM
EFF’s strategy will destroy the asset value of a large portion of SA’s land
The expropriation of commercial land and farms could negatively affect food security and agricultural growth, write Wandile Sihlobo and Johann Kirsten
In its 54th national conference report and resolutions, the governing ANC highlighted that the interventions regarding expropriation of land without compensation would largely focus on government-owned land, prioritising the "redistribution of vacant, unused and underutilised state land, as well as land held for speculation and hopelessly indebted land". It remains to be seen if commercial land or farms will be part of the expropriation process. Tampering with such areas would potentially have a negative effect on food security and agricultural growth — an outcome that the ANC is trying to avoid. Meanwhile, the EFF opposition party argues that all land should be nationalised, or "wholesale expropriation without compensation" should be applied. In such a scenario the effect would not only be limited to land for food and agricultural production, but would also — according to its proposal — include land for housing and for industrial and retail use. We argue in this article that this s...
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