The government wants to steal land in South Africa through new law

Renowned economist Dawie Roodt stated that the new Expropriation Act, with a provision for no compensation, grants South African politicians the right to steal people’s property.

Roodt made these comments during a discussion about land reform in South Africa on the Praag podcast.

In January, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the controversial Expropriation Bill into law, which outlines the procedures for state organs to expropriate land in the public interest.

This law will assist all state organs, including local, provincial, and national authorities, in expropriating land in the public interest for various reasons.

The new Expropriation Act has caused widespread criticism, with many arguing that it may conflict with the country’s Constitution, which does not permit the arbitrary deprivation of land.

It has even been slated by United States President Donald Trump, who cut off all funding to South Africa until a full investigation into taking land from certain people has been completed.

Roodt argued that there is adequate legislation in place to expropriate land for purposes such as building a road or a train track.

However, apart from land expropriation for infrastructure development, there is no reason for the state to take land from citizens.

“The new Expropriation Act, with a nil compensation clause, gives South African politicians the right to steal people’s property,” he said.

“The term expropriation is just another term for theft. This is what the state does when it takes people’s property.”

He explained that the state’s primary role is to protect its citizens and their property, ensuring that they are always safe.

When the state fails to perform this duty, it breaches its social contract with its citizens, which can lead to a decline in tax payments.

“When the state starts threatening to steal my property, I no longer have a duty to pay taxes to the government,” he argued.

The only land reform Roodt is in favour of

Roodt said he is in favour of taking unproductive land that the state owns and giving it to South Africans to use as they see fit.

“We need land reform in South Africa. All the land the state has control over should be given to South Africans who should own it,” he said.

He added that it was essential for people to own the land, with title deeds allowing them to sell it if they desired to.

He predicted that if this were to happen, large corporate farming businesses would eventually acquire the land and make it productive.

“This will allow South Africa to create productive and successful businesses using the land, which will lead to higher employment, wealth creation, and economic growth,” he said.

“Therefore, the only land reform which should take place is where state-owned land should be given to people in South Africa.”

Roodt opposed taking productive farmland away from its owners, as it would inevitably cause the land to become less productive.

“If you give productive farmland to a person who cannot manage it, the farming business will come to an end,” he said.

“It makes far more sense to give the unproductive land the state occupies to the private sector and step away. They will make a success of it.”