Real Estate Investor Magazine South Africa November 2014 | Page 20
cover story
defined to include companies, equities, land, movables,
and intellectual property, along with mining rights and
similar “licences, authorisations, or permits...to carry
out economic and commercial activities.” Moreover,
the Investment Bill applies equally to domestic and
foreign investors, to companies and other commercial
enterprises in every sector of the economy, as well as
‘natural persons’ - ‘regardless of nationality’.
As the IRR notes, the Investment Bill, in
combination with the Restitution Bill, can “spell the
end of private property rights in South Africa - not
just in agriculture but across the economy.” The IRR
adds: “We believe the Government and the ANC are
preparing the ground to seize private property and
distribute it to poor communities when they feel the
need to do so.”
AFRIBUSINESS’ 5-POINT PLAN TO COMBAT THE
ONSLAUGHT ON PROPERTY RIGHTS
1. Legitimate and orderly land restitution, applied without
infringing existing property rights. The best way to expand
property rights is to transfer full ownership of government
land to residents of informal settlements and RDP houses,
as the FMF is doing in Ngwathe.
2. Questioning