DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE OF EWC
President Ramaphosa’s late night statement of 31 July is now well-read and known. It has been criticised, lauded and discussed in detail. The issue of why the statement was delivered at that time, and whether there was a good reason to do it, despite the Parliamentary review process being ongoing, lies in the realm of political commentary. As a Foundation with a mission of protecting and promoting the Constitution, we must take the statement and its intention on face value and point out what its consequences are and could be. In the Foundation’s statement of 1 August we have already commented on the statement’s unacceptable procedure that undermined the parliamentary process and the independence of the SABC.
The first important issue is the intent of the statement - to provide more certainty on the ANC’s view of section 25 and its amendment. It may have done so for the ANC supporters on a philosophical level, but for other South Africans and especially business people, farmers and landowners, it has raised even more questions.
By way of detail, there is nothing new in the statement, apart from the vague comment that the ANC will, “through the parliamentary process, finalise a proposed amendment to the Constitution that outlines more clearly the conditions under which expropriation of land without compensation can be effected”. This does not bring more certainty for those persons and the four presidential envoys seeking multi-billion-dollar investments for the country.
Secondly, this does not mean that the statement is exactly in line with the Nasrec resolution of December 2017. It differs from that in important aspects. The Nasrec resolution had four qualifications for the implementation of expropriation without compensation (EWC) - it should not harm agricultural production, food security, investment in the economy and other sectors of the economy. The 31 July statement has no qualifications, but some goals. The amendment to allow EWC should “promote redress, advance economic development, increase agricultural production and food security”. Redress is a new and not unsurprising addition. The irony that section 25 already makes explicit provision for this, is inescapable.
The problem is that these goals are vague and take the measurement on EWC out of the hands (so to speak) of the stakeholders that must drive the economy. The harm that must be avoided as per the Nasrec resolution was a test that would have resided with investors, farmers and property owners. These are now taken out of the equation, as the new goals are in the party-political realm of promises and rhetoric. This is bad news for the economy and the country.