South African President: Confiscate Land from White Farmers

Robert Mugabe destroyed his nation’s economy. It was a tragedy to watch. And no doubt, even more tragic to experience in person. He should serve as an excellent example of what a leader should not do. Unfortunately, South African leadership either did not heed the lesson, or was so overcome with its own Marxist approach to economics that its president just did not care. So the tragedy was repeated. And is about to get worse.

If you’ve been following much international news, you’ve probably heard that, after literally years of scandal, abuse, and incompetence, South Africa’s president Jacob Zuma was finally forced to resign last week.

This is a big deal for South Africa.

The country has been suffering for nearly a decade under Zuma’s corruption.

And people are certainly hoping that the new President, Cyril Ramaphosa, will represent a positive, new chapter for South Africa.

Yesterday Ramaphosa addressed the nation’s parliament in Cape Town and made clear that his priority is to heal the divisions and injustice of the past, going all the way back to the original European colonists in the 1600s taking land from the indigenous tribes.

That all sounds very good. We’re all for healing divisions. But that’s not what is happening in spite of what this new president of South Africa claims. Ever heard the phrase, “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss?” That is exactly what those in South Africa have gotten.

Ramaphosa called this “original sin”, and stated that he wants to see “the return of the land to the people from whom it was taken… to heal the divisions of the past.”

How does he plan on doing that?

Confiscation. Specifically– confiscation without compensation.

“The expropriation of land without compensation is envisaged as one of the measures that we will use to accelerate redistribution of land to black South Africans.”

Ramaphosa minced no words: he’s talking about taking land from white farmers and giving it to black South Africans.

Astonishingly, he followed up that statement by saying, “We will handle it in a way that is not going to damage our economy. . .”

So we are being asked to believe that President Ramaphosa has found a way to steal land from people in a way that not only heals divisions, but promotes the economy.

We could laugh at this fool if it were not so serious. He claims to be able to fix alleged injustices with theft. He also would like everyone to believe that what he plans will be good for the economy.

Raamaphosa, instead of learning from Mugabe’s disaster in Zimbabwe, has chosen to reproduce it in South Africa.

But within a few years of Mugabe’s land distribution, food production plummeted.

Without its professional, experienced farmers, the nation went from being an agricultural export powerhouse to having to rely on handouts from the United Nations’ World Food Programme.

Hyperinflation and a multi-decade depression followed.

So, that’s what’s ahead for the people of South Africa. It’s tragic.

And if you are looking to diversify your investment portfolio, you might want to mark South Africa off your list.

Watch Raamaphosa’s remarks at 29:35:

Source: ZeroHedge