SHOOT: As usual, Vegter provokes a thought. What I find fascinating about his column here is the fact that RDP housing amounts to state owned housing on state owned land. It's ironic that Malema is calling for state ownership of mines and land when ordinary citizens are already impoverished by the conditions attached their RDP homes. For example they may not resell or rent their homes because technically the property belongs to the state, not the occupant.
The reaction to Malema's land-grab and nationalisation rhetoric during the ANC Youth League's recent congress was predictable. With a few notable exceptions, it has also been wrong. Because Malema is quite right.
“The willing-seller, willing-buyer approach to land acquisition has constrained the pace and efficacy of land reform. It is clear from our experience that the market is unable to effectively alter the patterns of land ownership in favour of an equitable and efficient distribution of land.”The reaction to Malema's land-grab and nationalisation rhetoric during the ANC Youth League's recent congress was predictable. With a few notable exceptions, it has also been wrong. Because Malema is quite right.
So said Julius Malema, the undisputed heavyweight champion of the ANC Youth League.
Don't argue. He has hundreds of thousands of young supporters, most of whom are either angry or revolutionary or both. He has big bodyguards with big guns. (Well, he used to.) How much influence he has on national policy is arguable, but it's surely not insignificant.
Don't let any of that intimidate you, however. The reason not to argue with Malema is that he is quite right. The free market has not brought about “equitable” land ownership.
Read the rest.
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