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Roger Southall’s puerile interpretation of the Institute of Race Relations’ (IRR’s) opposition to expropriation without compensation as having “... switched from the defence of the rights of people to those of the rights of property” ignores the fact that abolishing property rights will not only kill investment but will see a flight of skills and capital from SA, with disastrous consequences for the vulnerable (“IRR now a right-wing agitator”, June 24).
The expropriation bill is not land- or real estate-specific — it applies to any and all property, including pensions, and worse still neutralises judicial oversight more with each new version. Imagine putting this tool in the hands of a governing party that has proved itself shameless in its corruption at the expense of the people Southall claims to be so concerned about.
According to him, attacking critical race theory (CRT) makes you conservative, not liberal. Yet CRT does not tolerate freedom of thought and expression and so believes in its own righteousness that contrary thought or expression must be punished harshly (cancel culture). This is totalitarianism, the exact opposite of liberalism.
Consider Southall’s criticism of the IRR’s defence of the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms in a country where the police can absolutely not be relied upon to come to your defence. The recently published book Give Us More Guns: How SA’s Gangs Were Armed details how the police have supplied the underworld with firearms instead of doing whatever it takes to disarm them.
In the recent looting in KwaZulu-Natal had citizens not had their own firearms they could not have prevented the spread of the looting and carnage to residential suburbs. The mind boggles at just how out of touch Southall is with the reality of SA.
Graeme Smith via e-mail
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
LETTER: Response to IRR is totalitarian
Roger Southall’s puerile interpretation of the Institute of Race Relations’ (IRR’s) opposition to expropriation without compensation as having “... switched from the defence of the rights of people to those of the rights of property” ignores the fact that abolishing property rights will not only kill investment but will see a flight of skills and capital from SA, with disastrous consequences for the vulnerable (“IRR now a right-wing agitator”, June 24).
The expropriation bill is not land- or real estate-specific — it applies to any and all property, including pensions, and worse still neutralises judicial oversight more with each new version. Imagine putting this tool in the hands of a governing party that has proved itself shameless in its corruption at the expense of the people Southall claims to be so concerned about.
According to him, attacking critical race theory (CRT) makes you conservative, not liberal. Yet CRT does not tolerate freedom of thought and expression and so believes in its own righteousness that contrary thought or expression must be punished harshly (cancel culture). This is totalitarianism, the exact opposite of liberalism.
Consider Southall’s criticism of the IRR’s defence of the right of law-abiding citizens to own firearms in a country where the police can absolutely not be relied upon to come to your defence. The recently published book Give Us More Guns: How SA’s Gangs Were Armed details how the police have supplied the underworld with firearms instead of doing whatever it takes to disarm them.
In the recent looting in KwaZulu-Natal had citizens not had their own firearms they could not have prevented the spread of the looting and carnage to residential suburbs. The mind boggles at just how out of touch Southall is with the reality of SA.
Graeme Smith
via e-mail
JOIN THE DISCUSSION: Send us an e-mail with your comments. Letters of more than 300 words will be edited for length. Send your letter by e-mail to letters@businesslive.co.za. Anonymous correspondence will not be published. Writers should include a daytime telephone number.
LETTER: IRR should come clean
CHRIS ROPER: Why does the IRR downplay the reality of racism in SA?
Human rights commission vows to support equality bill
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