EDITORIAL: Cyril’s land conundrum
The ANC is paying the price for having lost its way and, in the process, the support of critical constituencies
For years now, the ANC’s great skill has been stating the obvious about SA’s depressing social reality. Its great failing has been not doing anything about it — as with the land question. Writing in the Financial Times, President Cyril Ramaphosa recently made a poignant case for land reform, citing the World Bank: "SA’s historical, highly skewed distribution of land and productive assets is a source of inequality and social fragility." There is no disputing this — the problem is how to fix it. In the article, Ramaphosa tried his best to downplay the negative aspects of the ANC’s decision to expropriate land without compensation. "This is no land grab; nor is it an assault on the private ownership of property," he wrote. "The ANC has been clear that its land reform programme should not undermine future investment in the economy or damage agricultural production and food security. The proposals will not erode property rights, but will instead ensure that the rights of all South Africa...
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