Land Trumps SA Political Economy Concerns

SOUTH AFRICA - In Brief 24 Aug 2018 by Iraj Abedian

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Understandably, the issue of land expropriation without compensation is a big prevailing debate in the country, it has been since December 2017 when the ANC Elective Congress resolved to consider land distribution without expropriation. This then led to a Parliamentary Vote, proposed by the EFF and supported by the ANC, to consider if the Constitution had to be changed to accommodate such land expropriation. Over the past three months, the Parliamentary groupings have moved around the country, holding regional townhall meetings to hear all kinds of views, and have received in excess of one million submission on this highly sensitive and politically contested issue. The sensitivity of the land issue has been further heightened by the imperative of the electioneering and the absolute necessity by the contending political parties to grab attention of the voters. There is much at stake for all the parties involved. The ANC risks, for the first time, of falling short of the key 50% mark, the EFF runs the real risk of showing a regress in its electoral support, and likewise the DA faces potential decline, or at the very least stagnation. As I have highlighted before, the issue of land remains the most critical and potentially disruptive imbedded political economy risk- something that needs to be resolved openly and democratically in order to put South Africa on the path for long term sustainable growth trajectory. To this end, there is no elegant silver bullet solution for a complex issue that has a heavy load of historic baggage further complicated by the rising difficulties of rapid urbanisation, hence growing housing demand, and a state machinery which is not fit to deal ...