I am sitting here melting comrades. It is 36° and it feels like I am melting like the ice in my brandy. I am definitely not used to these high temperatures anymore. I do however prefer it over a European winter without a doubt.
Anyway, there is always a big fuss about land reform and expropriation without compensation and whatever else. The EFF, MKP and ANC seem to think that this will solve inequality in South Africa and ensure that the masses are happy. It will resolve injustices of the past and ensure that everyone is prosperous. I am glad they think so, because I would love to see Julius Malema working a farm in his Gucci Khaki’s, a Breitling and Louboutin vellies.
South Africa is very big. When you drive outside of the cities you will see nothing but farmland. It makes you wonder, what do the farmers do with a farm that is bigger than some countries? On the other hand, I can’t even keep the plants in my 30m² yard neat and alive.
Land is (apparently) wealth
According to Juju, the number one cause for inequality in South Africa, is the lack of access to land. White people own all the land, and blacks own nothing. Because they have no land, blacks are poor. It sounds like he thinks all the whites have money trees or something growing on their farms.
Anyway, land by itself doesn’t hold much value, especially if it is in the middle of nowhere. Yes, a piece of land in Sandton is worth a shitload, but it doesn’t seem to be the land Juju is referring to. He wants everyone to have access to some farmland, where everyone can let their cows graze and plants some mielies. I can guarantee, that if someone gets a plot of land in Sandton, they won’t grow mielies. They will sell it 10 seconds after receiving the title deed.
Land is only valuable if you do something with it. The only reason farms are worth something, is that the farmers have built big businesses and made the land useable. Over generations, these farmers have worked the land and gotten the most out of it. Without this, the farms would have been massive plots of nothing but bush. I am certain that maintaining such an enormous piece of land, costs more money than it is worth otherwise.
On the other hand, is it fair that a single farmer owns a farm that is bigger than some countries? Probably not.
Who owns the land?
The EFF, ANC and MKP would make you believe that land ownership is overwhelmingly skewed towards whites. Whites do still own lots of land, but the reality is quite different.
Based on data from various sources, the biggest land owner in South Africa, is the government (incl. SOEs). It makes total sense, since this has been the case even before the ANC came to power. Previously, the apartheid government expropriated lots of land to create the previous homelands (e.g. Venda, Ciskei etc.) State owned Enterprises such as Transnet or Eskom also owned huge portions of land for railways, ports and power stations.
After the ANC came to power, they started with a big land redistribution initiative to acquire land and transfer it to the previously disadvantaged. Whereas some land has been transferred, there is still great amounts of land which the government is yet to transfer. One can only guess the reason for this is utter incompetence, or the comrades want to keep the land for themselves.
Is land the silver bullet?
South Africa has many problems, of which the biggest are crime, high unemployment and low economic growth. I personally think that these issues are much more important than populist kak like expropriation without compensation.
As I wrote earlier, land is only useful and worth something if you do something with it. Otherwise, the land will just sit there idle, overgrown with weeds. I would say that the actual silver bullet would be education on how to use the land, to benefit from it economically. I think this is where the government has failed the farmers who got land from the land redistribution scheme the most. More often than not, the farms have been destroyed due to a lack of skills. This is really heart breaking.
Another thing the masses don’t realise, is that if the plans of the EFF, MKP and ANC go through, they would never actually own the land. The government would own all the land, and the farmers would merely get the chance to lease the land. This would all then lead back to the first problem, of not being able to use the land effectively. Because in order to do something productive, you need money for equipment, and cows and seeds and whatever else you need to farm. A bank would never lend you money against an asset you don’t own. These finer details seem to get overlooked.
Everyone would in theory have access to the land, but the land would probably contain nothing more than a few chickens and mielies.
My two cents
Given how badly the ANC did in the previous election, they need to start finding voters again. The MKP has taken lots of votes from the ANC and their rhetoric seems to resonate strongly with a large part of the population. The EFF probably won’t exist come the next election, but Juju and his followers will probably join the MKP or some other new party which doesn’t exist yet.
Believe it not, everyone in South Africa already has access to land. Everyone who has the means, can go and buy a farm the size of Luxembourg. Sadly, the majority of South Africans are poor, and have no chance of ever buying any land. The populist ideas of the EFF, MKP and ANC will only destroy the country, and everyone would be better off in Zimbabwe.
I don’t subscribe to this populist and communist kak, but it seems that there is still a big market for it. Until next time, dear comrades.
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