LETTER: Expropriating land without compensation will collapse the economy
The better route to rapid land reform is expropriation in terms of the constitution with market value taken into account by the valuator-general, writes Willem Cronje
Section 25 of the constitution, dealing with expropriation, requires market value to be taken into account in establishing compensation. The section does not deal specifically with land. It deals with property, which is defined as not restricted to land. If the intention is to amend the section to enable expropriation without payment, this will mean that anything – land, houses, motor vehicles, investments etc — may be expropriated without payment. This will collapse confidence, and the economy. If only land is to be taken without payment, what about residential and commercial buildings, factories, mines and the like? Such a broad ambit will likewise lead to economic collapse. If the intention is to take only farm land without compensation, two definitional problems arise: how to define farmland, as opposed to other land, and how to deal with improvements. There is today no clear distinction between farm and other business land. What about a chicken factory or cattle feedlot? The fi...
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