PROPERTY RIGHTS
We looked at all these countries north of us - 50 of them on the African continent - that do not have free hold of farmland , which is the reason why we cannot unlock the wealth of agriculture on this continent . And we drew all these pointers back home to say , what should we do differently here ? How must we make sure that the threats to property rights do not also become a threat to food security ?”
Dawie Roodt , Director and Chief Economist of the Efficient Group ,
He highlighted the Economic and Investment Implications of the Expropriation Bill : “ I ’ m quite concerned about the next couple of years in South Africa - we ’ ve got a government that has caused immense damage to the South African economy . If they expropriate , they can do other things as well , and I ’ m concerned that eventually this could lead to the kind of totalitarian state in South Africa .
It ’ s not only a matter of stealing property , it ’ s a matter of stealing people ’ s lives , stealing people ’ s freedoms . I think we ’ re in a period of political transition - the next five years or so are going to be very difficult . Remember , there are many kinds of expropriation . I believe that inflation will become a significant problem in South Africa - that is a form of expropriation . I also believe that tax is a form of expropriation - I think we ’ re going to see more of that as well , because the fiscal accounts have become completely unsustainable .
Fortunately , I think this is the thing about democracy - it ’ s only going to last another five years or so , then we will have another opportunity to get rid of an incompetent and quite often corrupt government .”
Dave Steward reiterated that : “ Virtually all the problems discussed at the conference have their roots in the fact that the Government - for almost 30 years - has been following an ideology that is profoundly at odds with the Constitution with which we all agreed . FW de Klerk said in a speech on 31 January 2014 that non-ANC parties had signed off on the values , rights and institutions that are articulated in the Constitution . They had
75 AUG / SEPT 2023 SA Real Estate Investor Magazine