Media advisory
20 November 2018
FMF International Conference: Expropriation without Compensation (EWC)
“Security of property rights”
Today 20 and tomorrow 21 November, the Free Market Foundation (FMF) is hosting a two-day conference focusing on achieving land reform without undermining property rights.
On day one, international speakers with first hand experience and knowledge will present case studies from Africa, Venezuela, India and central Europe.
On day two, speakers from South Africa will present and discuss alternative solutions to expropriation without compensation.
The FMF’s conference will focus on two broad aspects:
- how state-ownership and control of property smothers economic development throughout Africa and elsewhere in the world;
- land reform and land restitution solutions available to South Africans without undermining property rights by amending the Constitution.
There are opportunities for interviews, photos and filming the speakers in person, studio or by phone. Please contact the media office as below.
Venue: Radisson Blu Hotel, Daisy Street, Sandton
Details of the programme are below.
http://www.freemarketfoundation.com/Article-View/media-room
Background
In February 2018, the South African government resolved to consider a policy of Expropriation Without Compensation (EWC). The Constitution of South Africa currently requires that government must pay equitable compensation along lines that are common practice internationally.
On 15 November 2018, the Constitutional Review Committee adopted its report on expropriation without compensation with the recommendation that Parliament change the Constitution to allow for EWC.
Government rhetoric implies that this will apply only to white commercial farms. This, however, is not what a constitutional amendment would entail. If, as proposed, the existing protection is removed, any future government will be free to seize any property (not just land), regardless of short-term assurances to the contrary.
The FMF believes that secure private property rights are a prerequisite for prosperity and liberty. EWC, if allowed, will undermine and reverse the extraordinary progress achieved for all South Africans since apartheid. It is imperative that EWC be abandoned and that land reform be pursued under the powerful protections of the Constitution.