Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa March/April 2020 | Page 5

EDITORIAL VIEW JOHANN RUPERT How a weak economy and failure can create positive change T he current bad news stream coming in South Africa is not good for investors wanting to invest locally wheth- er in real estate or business. Continued problems with Eskom not being able to deliver a stable electricity supply, in addition to other failing State-Owned Entities (SOE’s) such as SAA, Transnet and SABC. Unemployment is at an all-time high and proposals of more regulations such as expropria- tion without compensation (EWC) to be controlled by the state is collectively having a devastating effect on investor and business confidence in SA. The government’s plan to introduce the Expropriation without compensation (EWC) Bill is unnecessary for land reform, dangerous to the economy, and will be disastrous for the poor says Free Market Foundation (FMF) legal policy head, Martin van Staden. The Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill proposes to change the Constitution to allow government to expropriate private property without being required to pay compensation. The idea of expropriation without compensation is alien to the world of constitutional democracy. Van Staden, said, “In all open and democratic societies, compensation is always payable when property is expropriated by government. The exception is when property used to commit a crime is seized.” When property is expropriated without compensation, prior ownership is denied and the dignity of the owner repudiated. The amendment would bring South Africa a step closer to a position where property owners would receive the same protection as convicted criminals do for their property: none. According to FMF director, Temba A Nolutshungu, “Sol Plaatje, the most prominent critic of the Natives Land Act, would have rigorously opposed the proposed amendment. We are repeating history by introducing legislation reminiscent of apartheid. Plaatje must be tossing and turning in his grave in bewilderment.” A telling statement indeed, education is needed as to the devastating effects this could have on the economy. The introduction of technology into real estate and businesses will significantly change how we do business in the future. There is a global transition to digitally-driven businesses including real estate, the world of how we operate is undergoing a radical transformation. Jonathan Turner Managing Director of CBRE Excellerate, says that traditional leadership hierarchies are dissolving, and there is a tangible shift towards more ‘human-centric’ business and operational models. Human capital is becoming imperative as EMAIL [email protected] INTERVIEWS tv REItv technology accelerates the pace of business - and makes innovation the key competitive differentiator. Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) predicts that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will generate up to 15% of the world’s GDP by 2030 which is equivalent to $15,7 trillion to the global economy. There are major benefits for businesses using AI including increasing customer engagement in an advisory capacity, shortening conversation cycles and reducing the time to find a resolution. It can optimise your business, enable employees and transform your products and services by staying ahead of the game. Turner says it is a journey we need to embark on and the steps it requires. To start the process, you need to define your vision and ensure its success, it is essential for companies to understand what the purpose of their workplace strategy is. Firstly, identify the drivers of the strategy: define the goals; and understand the user outcomes that you want to achieve (and also what the employees want to achieve). When defining and clarifying your purpose, it is critical to understand some of the strategies that global companies are embracing. Today, these strategies are increasingly adopting pioneering property initiatives, dynamic and agile workplace cultures and advanced technology implementations. Change management is a structured approach to shifting an organization from the current state to the envisioned future state. Workplace strategies are closely tied to cultural change, managing this process intelligently can be a make or break for the organization and its key stakeholders. According to Turner, he says, “there can be no doubt that a smart and agile workplace strategy will be underpinned by enabling technology (including apps) to empower a digitally savvy workforce.” Technology must be selected and designed to drive efficiency, productivity and ROI. Technology could be the game changer to drive a more robust, struggling and highly regulated economy. Successful investing NEALE PETERSEN EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FaceBook LIVE REAL ESTATE RADIO PodCasts SA Real Estate Investor Magazine MARCH/APRIL 2020 3