‘ Property rights can never be the right of a privileged few - it should be a right that we as a nation should afford to all citizens .” ELITA DE KLERK , FW DEKLERK FOUNDATION
WEALTH
Chris Endres , Project Manager – Konrad Adenauer Foundation
He opened the day by sharing his insights from a German perspective . “ It is clear that property rights underpinned the social market economy , which transformed the German economy and society after the second world war - and is the reason why Germany is seen as a role model for prosperity , social stability and economic success ,” he began .
He went on to explain that : “ Certainty of ownership is , in our view , an important component of human dignity in and of itself . It encourages us to work and invest in the just expectation that we will earn the rewards of our efforts . And as a consequence , it protects our identity as a being that creates .
More prosaically , property rights are also there to support human dignity in more secondary terms . Property rights are a necessary but not sufficient condition for economic growth , through which rising incomes improve living standards . Property rights are not unlimited , however , there is no place in the world where property rights are protected in an unbounded fashion . Wherever there is a state , property rights are bounded . A balance has to be struck between economic growth and the social context and safeguarding of the common good - and the specific context matters .
He continued that , within a South African context : “ In South Africa , property rights are not a clinical subject dispassionately viewed . Different ideas of property have been at the burning heart of South Africa ’ s historical tension . Apartheid ’ s fixed racial categories live on in the current government ’ s perspectives on
‘ Property rights can never be the right of a privileged few - it should be a right that we as a nation should afford to all citizens .” ELITA DE KLERK , FW DEKLERK FOUNDATION