LETTER: Land reform needs careful weighing of outcomes
Redress of wrongs of the past may seem acceptable, but the efficacy of what follows after the land has been confiscated may be minimal
Carol Paton and Brian Kantor's recent columns both focused on expropriation without compensation but presented different outlooks on the subject (“Land matters. It is as simple and as complicated as that (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2021-04-08-carol-paton-land-matters-it-is-as-simple-and-as-complicated-as-that/)”, April 8, and “Why protecting property is so necessary (https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/opinion/columnists/2021-04-08-brian-kantor-why-protecting-property-is-so-necessary/)”, April 8)).
Paton holds the view that the original sin of dispossession must be dealt with: constitutional justice will not be legitimate if the foundation upon which it stands is stolen property. Kantor focuses on wealth as a commodity: certain conditions, namely private property rights, must be in place for it to be created; without these there will be insufficient means and motivation to either create or increase wealth, the result being a gradual impoverishing of soc...
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