How land expropriation could work in SA without destroying the economy
The land ‘debate’ wreaked havoc with the SA economy last year. But the fact is, addressing what Cyril Ramaphosa calls SA’s ‘original sin’ was necessary, and the arguments against it ignore the depth of emotion about land. But the trick is to do expropriation without compensation in a way that will boost the economy and enhance social stability — not destroy it
A year ago, those who were optimistic about SA’s chances of stronger economic growth for 2018 had every reason to feel buoyant. Cyril Ramaphosa had just won the ANC presidency at the party’s Nasrec conference by the slightest of margins; Jacob Zuma’s departure as president seemed inevitable; governance seemed likely to improve from there; and it was just a matter of time before the money rolled in. Instead, the economy stuttered, and grew by less than 1% in 2018. One of the main problems, of course, was that same Nasrec conference, which resolved that: "Expropriation of land without compensation [EWC] should be among the key mechanisms available to government to give effect to land reform and redistribution." Econometrix economist Azar Jammine says that "without a doubt" this was the most important reason economic growth failed to deliver a "Ramaphoria dividend". Just look at when economists began downgrading SA’s growth forecasts, says Jammine: right after parliament voted for the ...
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