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Title: White People In South Africa Should Stop Panicking About Losing Their Land
Source:
Newsweak
URL Source: http://www.newsweek.com/white-peopl ... urce=Twitter&utm_medium=Social
Published: Apr 17, 2018
Author: Ben Cousins
Post Date: 2018-04-17 08:44:31 by IbJensen
Keywords: None
Views: 705
Comments: 16
Land reform is a key issue in South Africa, due to the long history of dispossession of indigenous populations by white settlers. Progress has been painfully slow over the past 24 years, but the question of land is now suddenly at the top of the political agenda. A major controversy erupted at the end of February following a motion adopted in parliament, tabled by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and modified by the ANC, which started the process of potentially amending the constitution to allow for the expropriation of (white-owned) land without compensation, and its subsequent redistribution (to black people.) In March, the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, sent out phone messages stating: "ANC & EFF working together to take all private land and homes. You can only stop this if you're registered correctly to vote! Check now." As a result, white South Africans are panicking that they will lose their land and their homes, and some white commercial farmers believe this is the beginning of Zimbabwe-style ‘land grabs.’ Australia’s minister of home affairs even offered to fast-track visas for white farmers. In contrast, the motion was supported by many other political parties and has been greeted with approval by large numbers of black people. Given the bitter history of large-scale land dispossession, refusing to pay for stolen land is seen by many black South Africans as essential to restoring their dignity. Parliament recently resolved to investigate whether or not the country’s constitution should be amended in order to allow for expropriation without compensation. A constitutional review committee is organising public hearings countrywide, and will report in August. The ANC is clearly attempting to regain political ground lost to the small but vocal opposition party, the EFF. The unresolved land question, and in particular the issue of compensation, has been a key rallying cry for the EFF since it first emerged in 2013. It is sure to make land a central issue in national elections due to take place on 2019. One effect of the controversy is that land reform is now a key topic of public debate. This presents both dangers and opportunities for South African society, which has one of the highest levels of inequality in the world, and continues to experience deep-seated tensions over race. We have an opportunity to pay serious attention to the land question, and to convene inclusive processes to develop solutions to this intractable problem. As demonstrated once again, racialized inequalities in land holdings are a ticking time bomb in South Africa. Defusing it will require courageous leadership and imaginative policy making. In the heat and dust generated by the current controversy, many commentators have missed an important report released by the country’s parliament in late 2017. This contains the findings of a two-year investigation of the impact of laws passed since the transition to democracy in 1994, with a particular focus on poverty and inequality, social cohesion, and land. The investigation was carried out under the leadership of former president Kgalema Motlanthe, who is widely respected. In relation to land, the report provides a comprehensive assessment and devastating critique of post-apartheid land reform, as well as detailed recommendations for its renewal. Draft legislation is included the report, in the form of a national framework law for land reform, a land records act, and amendments to existing laws. On expropriation, the report states that it is not necessary to amend the constitution—expropriation of property can be carried out in the public interest, which includes land reform. Compensation levels must be just and equitable, and market value is only one of several considerations in determining what this means in practice. Some land, for example portions of farms occupied and used by former labour tenants, can probably be expropriated with minimal or no compensation. Why have these provisions not been used to date? The answer is lack of political will, given the low priority of land reform for the ANC to date. This is evident in the tiny budget allocated to it, around 0.4 percent of the national budget, and the appointment of a series of incompetent politicians as ministers. As parliament’s report makes clear, acquiring land for restitution and redistribution is the least of the problems besetting the programme. More important are questions of which beneficiaries are targeted (the poor or emerging business people?), which land is targeted (does it have water for irrigation?) and how to provide effective post-settlement support for production and livelihood systems (in large-scale or small-scale enterprises?). Parliament’s report also focuses on the weaknesses of land tenure reform. This is meant to secure the rights of those discriminated against in the past, such as farmworkers and residents of communal areas under chiefs. In the commotion over the property rights of the white minority, the continuing insecurity of many black people is often lost sight of. Government’s abject failure to prevent evictions of farmworkers and dwellers has meant that many more rural people have lost access to land since 1994 than have gained it through land reform. In relation to communal areas, where systems of land rights draw on the norms and values of customary law, government has failed to promulgate protective legislation, despite the Bill of Rights requiring that it does so. These failures have resulted in the continuing dispossession of black South Africans living in communal areas. Some have lost their land to mining companies, with little or no compensation, as chiefs often enter into crooked deals with mining companies that benefit only themselves and their cronies. The platinum belt is the locus of many of these, and it is here that the EFF has made most of its gains. Currently, land rights in KwaZulu-Natal are under threat from the Ingonyama Trust, which is converting strong rights under custom into rent-paying leaseholds. Other populations who suffer from tenure insecurity include those living in informal settlements on the edges of towns and cities, backyard shacks and derelict inner city buildings. Urban land, not rural land, is where land occupations occur, sometimes led by EFF activists. This means that land reform policy must begin to focus on urban and peri-urban areas. As in rural areas, this should involve not only securing rights, but also enabling economic development. Given the fact that poor South Africans spend around 25 percent of their incomes on transport, the location of low cost housing in areas close to employment or self-employment opportunities is crucial. Supporting the growth of the informal sector is also key. Are land grabs about to begin? Will the ANC, together with the EFF, amend the constitution in an attempt to facilitate land grabbing on a large scale? Or will the ruling party, under a new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, begin to address the failings of its land reform programme? Time will tell. In my view, the latter is more likely. The challenge is to do so in a manner that addresses the political challenges that arise from an unresolved ‘land question,’ but also contributes to poverty reduction. In the meantime, white South Africans should be offering their energies (and for farmers, some of their land) to help find solutions. This will help secure their future in the country. Whereas attempts to defend their privilege could well lead to the loss of everything they own—an important lesson from Zimbabwe in the early 2000s. Poster Comment: The author of this article is truly an imbecile. Clear the white farmers out and South Africa goes back to the stone age. After the end of apartheid and the turning of the once great (and only great nation in Africa0 country on the 'Dark Continent) over to a gaggle of negro malcontents and mau-mau types, South Africa slides in the morass of mediocrity. American leftists (Democrat-Communist Party) will continue to gush over the amazing stability of SA; ones like billionaire-moron Oprah Winfrey and other apologists who continue to bow and scrape like a bunch of white Uncle Toms. Not one word about the hundreds of white farmers that have been viciously murdered over the last few years (including a pre teen boy who after seeing his parents murdered was drowned in boiling water).The white people of S.A are being slaughtered and not a peep from Dr Ben Cousins who thinks that the white farmers should lay down and offer their throats for cutting. Genocide is taking place, and all Newspeak can do is call it 'land reform'. Unbelievable !
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#1. To: IbJensen (#0)
HorseHillary! It was never their land to start with. The vast majority of the blacks in SA now are descendants of tribes that moved there for the food,housing,and easy living the Boers offered. In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Duplicate post
In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
The whites there should have got out & left the country years ago. There are many places they could go. Those that remain are fools !! Si vis pacem, para bellum Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. Never Pick A Fight With An Old Man He Will Just Shoot You He Can't Afford To Get Hurt "If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." (Will Rogers)
The ones that are still there at this late date are too stupid to be an asset to any country that would allow them in,so it's best to just let them remain there to become the main course at a community Bar-B-Q. In the entire history of the world,the only nations that had to build walls to keep their own citizens from leaving were those with leftist governments.
Some would call this "stealing". Wrong. They call it "land reform". Even better, stealing this land from the white farmers who developed it for decades and giving this productive land to undeserving blacks "is seen by many black South Africans as essential to restoring their dignity". New slogan: "Stealing With Dignity".
Memo to South African White farmers: Move to Australia NOW. You've waited too long. You are outnumbered and you cannot hold in Africa. Emigrate and start anew in Australia. Your ancestors came across the sea from Holland. Now it's time for you to go across the sea to a new country. Australia wants you. So GO!
Good advice. South Africa has been under Zulu and Tutsi control (Communist) for some time now and is gradually sinking into the mire like Zimbabwe and all others. Before the end of the so-called Apartheid SA was the gem of Africa. Employment of ALL NATIVE South Africans was very high. The unemployment was caused by the usurpers crawling across the border in search of jobs and housing. They ended up in Soweto and other shack towns. Violence, especially in Johannesburg is staggering and the butchering of whites in the villages and towns has been ongoing. Thanks to the boycott bandwagon on which eagerly jumped America, the die was cast and a hero was made of the communist Mandella. Meanwhile, down in the lovely wine country capitol Cape Town, the area is running out of potable water fast. The Israelis, who are the geniuses in creating waterfalls of fresh potable water, have been turned down by the imbecilic SA 'leaders'. This is due to a communist -inspired implanted theory that the Israelis are being mean to the PLO. The SA leaders arrogantly dismissed any help from Israel and the tourist industry is disappearing and the rest wil die of thirst., Liberals are like Slinkys. They're good for nothing, but somehow they bring a smile to your face as you shove them down the stairs.
Absolutely correct! The Boers began settling in uninhabited, or sparsely inhabited areas in 1602. The new settling Boers (means farmer) encountered no animosity from wandering Zulus until much later. In those early years Zulus were very clannish and lived in very remote areas. Liberals are like Slinkys. They're good for nothing, but somehow they bring a smile to your face as you shove them down the stairs.
I have to agree. I don't know what they would wait for. I can understand it's their country and Australia is as foreign to them as it is for any other English speaker who's never been there. But it sure seems racism is alive and well there and the white farmers are at the wrong end of it. They cannot count on legislation to protect them. Granted much of Australia is desert, but it is very sparsely populated so with a generous helping hand, SA farmers should at least have no problems getting a decent head start.
Yes Australia is happy to take White Christian migrants, makes a great contrast to the motely crew of muslims we have had in recent times
The desert blooms with water, If they come with money there are plenty of rural places they can buy into and they would be welcome, the Great benefit is they would fit in and assimilate into the society and not create Muslim ghettos. The mystery is why they have waited so long, I knew SA immigrants in the 70's
This is what it is like in South Africa. The train is running late! Blacks destroy the trains and strip the tracks for recycling. The free medical clinic has a long line! Blacks burned it down. White people must turn the land over to the blacks? Blacks starve to death.. The BEST THING that ever happened to the Africans South of the desert, was White men colonizing their land and bringing a bit of peace and prosperity to the Continent. Not that these people are not intelligent in their own way, but they cannot run a country or a city. Village level is about all they can handle. Their society and civilizations just have not evolved at the same rate as the Orientals or the people from the sands of the Sahara North. Even the Asians and ME people, have more of a need for a strong hand, than Europeans. Caucasians ruled the day until we surrender for some reason to inferior civilization. It will be "yellow world" for a thousand years, when the West falls. That is because once the Chinese get their people into Africa and S. America, they will take all they want and NEVER relinquish control. THIS IS A TAG LINE...Exercising rights is only radical to two people, Tyrants and Slaves. Which are YOU? Our ignorance has driven us into slavery and we do not recognize it.
So you subscribe to the yellow peril theory or reds from the north. Caucasians recognised that a few cannot rule the many, and went home. Trade is the best way to exploit advantage, not subjection of the population and the chinese recognise this. It is apparent that intelligence is not evenly distributed over the planet. The Caucasians made use of their advantage brought about by living in harsh climates and the orientals similarly had to work hard and be inventive. let us try to find something the Africans invented and turned to advantage
It never was their land. It was a hot dry plain that was uninhabitable. However it was a good resupply point for ships rounding the horn going to the far East. However the land would respond well to irrigation and the plow. Give the land to the niggers and move to Australia. In three months they'd be eating each other with no lights, no electricity, no wells, no medicine,no food, no water, and no supportive industrial output.
If you need farmhands and manual labor, you're a whole lot better off importing from South and Central America than from Indonesia. Truth is, importing Islam is not worth the cost savings of the short commute. There are plenty of Guatemalans, Nicaraguans and Hondurans, etc., who are skilled farm hands, who really need jobs, and who are Western in outlook - and they will be happy to come to Australia to work. Because workers stay and have families and become Australians, you're importing some religion and some culture. Two thoughts: Tacos and guacamole are a whole lot better than nasi goreng; and Spanish-speaking Catholics are a whole lot less problematic as neighbors than Indonesian-speaking Muslims. The Pacific Ocean ain't that wide, but it's wide enough to stop the easy flow of gangs. You can pick your immigrants and bring them, and they'll work hard, and they won't go jihad and blow up your schools.
We don't import farm hands from Indonesia, we may allow some south sea islanders to come on contract and go home. Any Muslims we have come from the middle east hell holes or south/central asia. I have no doubt south, or central americans, are able to apply for migration but illegal immigrants from any source are unwelcome. Even Donald didn't want to swap Muslims for Hispanics. Most of our farm labour is supplied by backpackers but our agriculture is highly mechanised Unfortunately we have some home grown jihadi who are intent on blowing up aircraft, not schools, but most of them had the good sense to fight for IS and get themselves blown up somewhere else
Land reform is a key issue in South Africa, due to the long history of dispossession of indigenous populations by white settlers.
#2. To: IbJensen (#0)
(Edited)
#3. To: IbJensen (#0)
#4. To: Stoner (#3)
The whites there should have got out & left the country years ago.
#5. To: IbJensen (#0)
amending the constitution to allow for the expropriation of (white-owned) land without compensation, and its subsequent redistribution (to black people.)
#6. To: IbJensen (#0)
#7. To: Vicomte13 (#6)
#8. To: sneakypete (#1)
#9. To: Vicomte13 (#6)
Memo to South African White farmers: Move to Australia NOW. You've waited too long. You are outnumbered and you cannot hold in Africa. Emigrate and start anew in Australia. Your ancestors came across the sea from Holland. Now it's time for you to go across the sea to a new country. Australia wants you. So GO!
#10. To: Vicomte13 (#6)
Australia wants you. So GO!
#11. To: Pinguinite (#9)
Granted much of Australia is desert, but it is very sparsely populated
#12. To: IbJensen (#0)
#13. To: jeremiad (#12)
#14. To: IbJensen (#0)
We want our land back now!
#15. To: paraclete (#10)
Yes Australia is happy to take White Christian migrants, makes a great contrast to the motely crew of muslims we have had in recent times
#16. To: Vicomte13 (#15)
(Edited)
If you need farmhands and manual labor, you're a whole lot better off importing from South and Central America than from Indonesia. The Pacific is wide enough to keep all sorts of undesirables out
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