Countries that seize land for free pay dearly
Knock-on effects are catastrophic, as shown in Zimbabwe's decline, write Johann Kirsten and Wandile Sihlobo
This week the National Assembly made a landmark decision to review section 25 of the constitution to cater for the principle of land expropriation without compensation. This is a marked shift in policy, and comes at a time when land reform (through both the state and market) has made more progress than experts and policymakers care to admit. It is disheartening that the ANC's amendment to the EFF motion also disregarded the real progress made with land redistribution and restitution. Ironically, this decision comes at a time when the Zimbabwean government has established a compensation committee under its Land Acquisition Act to allow for dispossessed white former commercial farmers to be compensated for land seized 18 years ago. This raises the question why the ANC and the EFF are taking a position that their revolutionary counterparts across the Limpopo are retreating from. If the Zimbabwean experience is not sufficient to proffer some fundamental lessons for South Africa, it woul...
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