ADVISING THE PRESIDENT
CLAIRE BISSEKER: Land reform panel will have to be a skilful messenger
The panel must advise Cyril Ramaphosa on how to execute land reform in a way that redresses past injustices without sacrificing economic growth and food security
President Cyril Ramaphosa has been lauded for appointing a 10-person expert panel to advise him on how to resolve the vexed issue of land reform. He has used this trick before, in establishing a panel to resolve the national minimum wage dead lock between business and labour. The experience of that panel should be a cautionary tale because, despite the best of intentions, it was used to lend a veneer of technical affirmation to a political decision that was taken long before. The public views the R20/hour national minimum wage as the precise outcome of academic research — the level that will maximise the benefits to the working poor while minimising the potential for job losses. In fact, it is a product of political compromise and a technical fudge, chosen partly because R20 is such a nice, round number. Well before any economic research was commissioned, the government accepted the idea of a national minimum wage in principle. All that was in question was the level at which it shou...
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