Has agri-business sold out SA’s farmers on EWC? – IRR
The Institute of Race Relations today launches a campaign to get straight answers from important entities in the agri-business sector on where they stand on expropriation without compensation (EWC). With the publication of the Final Report of the Presidential Advisory Panel on Land Reform and Agriculture in May 2019, the Agricultural Business Chamber (Agbiz) positioned itself in support of the majority report – the document on which the governmental executive bases its position in favour of EWC.
The implications of Agbiz supporting the government’s position are far-reaching – especially for the South African farming community. Members of the agricultural community have come to understand that Agbiz has thrown its weight behind the government on the question of EWC.
In this final week before the close of submissions on the Draft Constitution Eighteenth Amendment Bill (Section 25 Amendment), the IRR will publicly be requesting clarity from important entities and organisations who are members of Press Release For immediate release 28 January 2020 Decemb22ewrfwefer 22012016 Agbiz on their respective positions on EWC and whether Agbiz’s support of the executive’s approach to EWC represents their own.
“We urge all members of the agricultural community in South Africa to help us in putting pressure on those organisations who should speak for the best interests of South African farmers of all backgrounds and across the whole country,” says Hermann Pretorius, IRR Campaigns Manager. “If South Africa’s farming community is being sold out on EWC by powerful interests, the hard-working people who work every day to feed this country have a right to know and a right to act.”
Issued by the IRR, 28 January 2020
Previous statement:
Banks must spell out to clients the implications of EWC – IRR
The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) is launching an open letter campaign this week, asking prominent South African banks to clarify for their clients the implications of expropriation without compensation (EWC) becoming government policy. The central issue on which the IRR will be engaging banks is the question of bond payments.
South Africans are already under huge financial and economic pressure. Would banks expect them to pay off bonds on properties that have been expropriated without compensation by the state? South Africans deserve a straight answer to this simple and important question. “Big corporations and institutions do not have the luxury of sitting on the fence or the right to sell out South Africans on something as important as EWC,” says Hermann Pretorius, IRR Campaigns Manager.
“On behalf of all South Africans who are homeowners and the millions more who dream of becoming homeowners or businessowners or farmers, the IRR will stand up for their right to own what they earn through their hard work. Press Release For immediate release 20 January 2020 Decemb22ewrfwefer 22012016 “If banks want to retain the trust of South Africans, they need to come absolutely clean on what their clients can actually bank on. We will hold them to their word.”
Issued by the IRR, 20 January 2020
