LETTER: Taxing rich whites will help solve injustice
Land should also be expropriated at or close to the market price
The letter titled Ramaphosa’s Brexit, on January 15, points out that land expropriation without compensation may be well handled. However, a poison fatal to business cannot be well handled. It remains a poison. Business, the only part of SA that works, is a function of competitive markets. If the government decrees that certain property is worth zero, it risks throwing markets overboard, and with this the SA economy. After all, if property is degraded or abandoned, the market itself will discount its value. There is no need for the government intervention. Whatever the political drivers of land expropriation, there is a much better way: expropriate land at or close to market prices, as is the norm internationally, but without compensating whites overall. This would be far less damaging than destroying the market. How would this be done? Simple, if unpalatable: impose a land expropriation surcharge of 10% on all taxable income exceeding, say, R1m per annum. This would garner several ...
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