I haven't posted for awhile because I've been struggling with coming up with topics that are relevant and still interesting (tariffs are so boring). I finally settled on my next topic and I hope it's enlightening to all of you! I have been hearing some troubling news out of South Africa and wanted to share what I know.
The South African Parliament voted recently to take farmland away from white farmers without any compensation. The measure passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 241-83. The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party in South Africa, Julius Melema told his followers in 2016 that he was "not calling for the slaughter of white people-at least for now" Daily Mail which, while I'm glad to hear it's not time yet, that statement is very concerning. The unrest in this country is coming to a head, and the new decision to seize land without compensation is only making things worse.
We haven't seen much about this in the news but we definitely should. Whites in South Africa are the minority, and this new policy is a result of valid grudges being held from Apartheid-where the white minority controlled the government and put in place strict segregation policies including banning interracial marriage and taking land away from black farm owners. The Apartheid came to an end in 1994 and through elections, the government was chosen to be a non-white majority. Since then, South Africa has fought to overcome the racial disparity that Apartheid caused. In 1994, when Nelson Mandela took over, "87 percent of the country's land was owned by whites, even though they represented less than 10 percent of the population." Foreign Affairs Land redistribution should happen-but doing it without compensation or without policies that provide support for all parties involved, it will end badly. The government is also stressing it's Black Economic Empowerment movement which says it's goal is to redress "the imbalances of the past by seeking to substantially and confer the ownership, management, and and control of South Africa's financial and economic resources to the majority of its citizens" BEE They are putting in quotas of white people that industries are required to follow which is resulting in massive layoffs and a drowning economy. For example, because whites only make up 8% of the South African population, certain industries can only have 8% of their workforce be white. Farmlands
The corruption in the government, combined with the redistribution policies are destroying the country and its citizens. The government is giving farmland to many citizens who are not farmers. Without any education or access to the tools they need to farm, they are unable to maintain productivity on the land. This hurts every citizen in South Africa. Whites are denied access to healthcare and are living in fear of their lives. Many of them are unable to provide for their families and are living in displacement camps without electricity. Farmlands Another issue that is making this problem more severe is drought with Cape Town expecting to hit a "Day Zero" when they will run out of water completely by July 9th of this year. Reuters
Unfortunately, we know how this policy will turn out. We only have to look to another African country to see how policies such as these will affect the country, and the continent as a whole. Zimbabwe (led by dictator Robert Mugabe), engaged in redistribution policies in 2000. The Mugabe government violently confiscated all farmland owned by whites, and the result was disastrous. According to the Center for Public Impact, "By 2015, it was reported that more than 7 million hectares (17.3 million acres) of land had been redistributed since 2000, which was justified as 'compensation for colonialism'. Some 4500 white farmers were dispossessed, sometimes forcibly, and a million black Zimbabweans were settled on their land. A number of new medium-sized farms were created, but by and large the land was redistributed to small-scale farmers-and to people who had good connections to the Mugabe regime...As a result of the land reform, some 300,000 black farm workers lost their jobs". The same report also states that the "infrastructure and technologies around agriculture also collapsed", and "there were reports of widespread hunger and malnutrition, with very little up-to-date information, allegedly due to government efforts to obstruct surveys...by 2006, there were between 1.9 and 4 million 'food insecure' people".
There is a documentary coming out soon about the situation in South Africa. Right now, you can go and watch some mini documentaries that the group have already posted that show exactly what's happening right now. Farmlands Some of those mini documentaries are where I got some information so be sure to watch them if you want more info. Hopefully someone can stand up to the government and show them that these policies are going to be terrible for their country before it's too late.
The South African Parliament voted recently to take farmland away from white farmers without any compensation. The measure passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 241-83. The leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters party in South Africa, Julius Melema told his followers in 2016 that he was "not calling for the slaughter of white people-at least for now" Daily Mail which, while I'm glad to hear it's not time yet, that statement is very concerning. The unrest in this country is coming to a head, and the new decision to seize land without compensation is only making things worse.
We haven't seen much about this in the news but we definitely should. Whites in South Africa are the minority, and this new policy is a result of valid grudges being held from Apartheid-where the white minority controlled the government and put in place strict segregation policies including banning interracial marriage and taking land away from black farm owners. The Apartheid came to an end in 1994 and through elections, the government was chosen to be a non-white majority. Since then, South Africa has fought to overcome the racial disparity that Apartheid caused. In 1994, when Nelson Mandela took over, "87 percent of the country's land was owned by whites, even though they represented less than 10 percent of the population." Foreign Affairs Land redistribution should happen-but doing it without compensation or without policies that provide support for all parties involved, it will end badly. The government is also stressing it's Black Economic Empowerment movement which says it's goal is to redress "the imbalances of the past by seeking to substantially and confer the ownership, management, and and control of South Africa's financial and economic resources to the majority of its citizens" BEE They are putting in quotas of white people that industries are required to follow which is resulting in massive layoffs and a drowning economy. For example, because whites only make up 8% of the South African population, certain industries can only have 8% of their workforce be white. Farmlands
The corruption in the government, combined with the redistribution policies are destroying the country and its citizens. The government is giving farmland to many citizens who are not farmers. Without any education or access to the tools they need to farm, they are unable to maintain productivity on the land. This hurts every citizen in South Africa. Whites are denied access to healthcare and are living in fear of their lives. Many of them are unable to provide for their families and are living in displacement camps without electricity. Farmlands Another issue that is making this problem more severe is drought with Cape Town expecting to hit a "Day Zero" when they will run out of water completely by July 9th of this year. Reuters
Unfortunately, we know how this policy will turn out. We only have to look to another African country to see how policies such as these will affect the country, and the continent as a whole. Zimbabwe (led by dictator Robert Mugabe), engaged in redistribution policies in 2000. The Mugabe government violently confiscated all farmland owned by whites, and the result was disastrous. According to the Center for Public Impact, "By 2015, it was reported that more than 7 million hectares (17.3 million acres) of land had been redistributed since 2000, which was justified as 'compensation for colonialism'. Some 4500 white farmers were dispossessed, sometimes forcibly, and a million black Zimbabweans were settled on their land. A number of new medium-sized farms were created, but by and large the land was redistributed to small-scale farmers-and to people who had good connections to the Mugabe regime...As a result of the land reform, some 300,000 black farm workers lost their jobs". The same report also states that the "infrastructure and technologies around agriculture also collapsed", and "there were reports of widespread hunger and malnutrition, with very little up-to-date information, allegedly due to government efforts to obstruct surveys...by 2006, there were between 1.9 and 4 million 'food insecure' people".
There is a documentary coming out soon about the situation in South Africa. Right now, you can go and watch some mini documentaries that the group have already posted that show exactly what's happening right now. Farmlands Some of those mini documentaries are where I got some information so be sure to watch them if you want more info. Hopefully someone can stand up to the government and show them that these policies are going to be terrible for their country before it's too late.
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