This year there has been some debate about expropriation of land in South Africa, I looked for at suitable place to post about the issue and found a thread begun in 2010 South Africa going the Zimbabwe route? But was that a really great place to post? Rather than limit the discussion to South Africa, one could take a broader perspective, go global and discuss various cases, causes and consequences, since there is little reason to think this will be a passing trend, or restricted to a particular part of the world. At the end of this post, there are a couple of links that could open up for such a possible development, in case anyone might be interested, but first and to provide context for the new links I found about the old topic, I'll begin by quoting the initial post of the previously mentioned thread :
Murders of farmers in South Africa at 20-year low, research shows
From a statistical point of view, and skipping the whole debate about the reasons, I don't know how exciting this headline is. Just to mention one angle, if one has a population, and gradually removes elements say, 1 %, with no new elements being added, the relative number may be the same, but the absolute numbers will decrease. For example 10 % of 100 is 10, and then you have 90 left, take 10 % of that remaining number and you have only 9. Thus we can claim there is a decrease.
Next there are a few links from 2018 that relate to the second link posted by Erna. For those who may not be familier with SA journalist-speak, "Bob" was short name for the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.
"SA will learn from Zimbabwe on land expropriation" - Ramaphosa
The Economics Don't Add Up On Land Expropriation
South Africa’s land expropriation law: ‘Devastating’ for the country?
The farce of public consultation on land expropriation without compensation
South Africa to change constitution to legalize taking away white farmers' land
Land expropriation: The right decision will be the unpopular decision
The next links are reflections of Ernas fears; the last two lines in the post:
South Africa facing ‘mass STARVATION and RIOTS’ after white people's land seized
Take away land & the poor will starve, South African farmer tells RT
Comment, the feared lack of self-sufficiency would be the worst case scenario and probably be temporary, also depending on how the redistribution is handled. Even neighbouring Zimbabwe, that began land reforms around 2000, became self sufficient again in 2017 as the following article mentions:
Perhaps the current initiative in South Africa will become a more common global trend as governments try to navigate the turbulent world events to suit their political and economic situation. Below are a few links which may illustrate this point, South Africa is, in spite of the current headlines, not the only place on the planet where expropriation can take place.
Expropriation without compensation? Ask the British. (A historical perspective)
Why A Cyprus-Like Seizure Of Your Money Could Happen Here (The case of Cyprus -2013)
Expropriation risk - country rankings (Risks in 2017, 7 is highest (as Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq etc), SA was then ranked 4, average was 3).
The fears of the poster are eight years old. It has three parts and I will try to relate to each part, as they may all have meaning in the present situation. The first link is a comment to the first link in Erna's post.
Murders of farmers in South Africa at 20-year low, research shows
From a statistical point of view, and skipping the whole debate about the reasons, I don't know how exciting this headline is. Just to mention one angle, if one has a population, and gradually removes elements say, 1 %, with no new elements being added, the relative number may be the same, but the absolute numbers will decrease. For example 10 % of 100 is 10, and then you have 90 left, take 10 % of that remaining number and you have only 9. Thus we can claim there is a decrease.
Next there are a few links from 2018 that relate to the second link posted by Erna. For those who may not be familier with SA journalist-speak, "Bob" was short name for the president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.
"SA will learn from Zimbabwe on land expropriation" - Ramaphosa
The Economics Don't Add Up On Land Expropriation
South Africa’s land expropriation law: ‘Devastating’ for the country?
The farce of public consultation on land expropriation without compensation
South Africa to change constitution to legalize taking away white farmers' land
Land expropriation: The right decision will be the unpopular decision
The next links are reflections of Ernas fears; the last two lines in the post:
South Africa facing ‘mass STARVATION and RIOTS’ after white people's land seized
Take away land & the poor will starve, South African farmer tells RT
Comment, the feared lack of self-sufficiency would be the worst case scenario and probably be temporary, also depending on how the redistribution is handled. Even neighbouring Zimbabwe, that began land reforms around 2000, became self sufficient again in 2017 as the following article mentions:
Many things are different in South Africa than they were in Zimbabwe twenty years ago. Besides, Zimbabwe suffered from trade blocades during many years. The expected management of the expropriation in South Africa will most likely also be different from an occupation by armed groups as it happened in Zimbabwe.
Perhaps the current initiative in South Africa will become a more common global trend as governments try to navigate the turbulent world events to suit their political and economic situation. Below are a few links which may illustrate this point, South Africa is, in spite of the current headlines, not the only place on the planet where expropriation can take place.
Expropriation without compensation? Ask the British. (A historical perspective)
Why A Cyprus-Like Seizure Of Your Money Could Happen Here (The case of Cyprus -2013)
Expropriation risk - country rankings (Risks in 2017, 7 is highest (as Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq etc), SA was then ranked 4, average was 3).
