[This is proof that the ANC does not believe in the Free market system. These people are closet communists. Jan]

DA WARNS AGAINST MORATORIUM ON FOREIGN OWNERSHIP OF LAND

The decision by a ministerial committee to recommend a moratorium on the foreign ownership of land could have profoundly negative economic consequences for South Africa, DA spokesperson on agriculture, Kraai van Niekerk, said in a media statement on Friday.

Van Niekerk contended that the committee had provided no substantive reasons for its decision, which it appeared to have based on œperception and partisan political considerations.

œIt is becoming increasingly clear that government is using the restriction of foreign ownership of land, as well as the intended review of the willing buyer, willing seller principle, as a red herring to distract from its own failures in giving South Africans access to land and housing.

Van Niekerk said that taxpayers had to pay over R1 million for the committee to validate an ANC position that was mooted as early as January 2002 by Smuts Ngonyama.

The Minister of Agriculture and Land Affairs Thoko Didiza had also previously made it clear it was her intention to restrict foreign ownership of land. In June 2002, she announced that, œwe need a policy framework that will stipulate that no foreigner can own land, but can have a 90-year lease. You can buy and have (security of) tenure, but can™t hold title. That™s the kind of regime we are looking at.

Van Niekerk argued that a moratorium on foreign ownership of land could have severe consequences for foreign direct investment in the property market as well as other sectors of the economy. Restrictions of this sort were a red flag to investors and came at a time when billions of rand were being invested, for example, by an Irish Consortium in the Cape Town CBD.

According to Van Niekerk, there was no empirical evidence to suggest that foreign ownership is pushing up prices or restricting the amount of land available for land reform and housing.

He pointed out that, previously, the country™s largest property group, Pam Golding Properties (PGP), warned against restricting foreign ownership as it would undermine investor confidence.

There was also a chance that a moratorium would be unconstitutional and that it may violate a number of bilateral treaties.

œForeign investment in South Africa whether it be in land, or any other sector of the economy, should be welcomed with open arms as it helps to create jobs and has a number of other positive economic spin-offs.

œThe last thing government should do is bow to populist sentiment and adopt a short-sighted stance that will only have negative consequences for all South Africans in the future, Van Niekerk said.

Source: Democratic Alliance, Johannesburg South