It became important in the post-truth era to not only make sure that we use the correct words to say what we mean, but also not to be misled by buzz words that sound nice, but actually mean something different from what they pretend to mean.
The political scientist Francis Fukayama said that there were almost as many definitions of the word “democracy” as there were lawyers. This is also true for many other buzz words. A buzz word is a word that is often used; however, if you ask twenty people what the word means, you would most probably get twenty different answers. There are pleasant buss words like “reconciliation”, “nation building” and democracy”, but also nasty ones like “racism”, “privilege” and “apartheid”.
There probably is no other buzz word that is currently used more than “land reform”. Few people are willing to speak out against land reform as it is generally perceived to be a positive term. The idea is that land reform is a good thing because it aims to correct an error or imbalance. The word is of course also associated with several other buzz words, such as “restitution” and “redistribution”.
It is firstly important to realise that restitution and redistribution are two opposing concepts. Restitution is about correcting a mistake. This is something that should be supported in principle – and which AfriForum also supports. In terms of the land issue, restitution encompasses a land claim process according to which the land claimants should be able to prove that the land in question belonged to their ancestors and was taken from them in a particular manner.
Such a process should be supported at least in principle, obviously on condition that it is done factually, fairly and without corruption. Against that, redistribution entails in practice that the race of a landowner determines if that person is the rightful owner. If your skin is white, you are in trouble. If your skin is black, it is your lucky day. It is an inherently racist process in which the history of the land in question is irrelevant. It is therefore a process that should be opposed by any rational person.
Second, it is important to understand the buzz word “expropriation” for what it is. Expropriation – and especially expropriation without compensation – entails the brushing aside of the history of the land in question; it is therefore a process that is stripped of all historic context. Neither is it truly about redistribution. If one views the process of expropriation without compensation in context, it is very clear that, to the ANC and the EFF, it is a process of nationalisation rather than restitution or simply redistribution.