08-23-2018, 10:45 PM
*** 24-Aug-18 World View -- South Africa politics roiled by Trump tweet on killing white farmers
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** South Africa politics roiled by Trump tweet on killing white farmers
****
![[Image: g180823b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180823b.jpg)
White farmer in South Africa (Reuters)
South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday reconfirmed that
the country plans to go ahead with a land reform constitutional
amendment that would explicitly permit confiscation of farms without
compensation. The amendment is believed to be targeted at farms owned
by white farmers, but some in the government dispute that.
Ramaphosa's government was thrown into turmoil on Thursday after
president Donald Trump issued a tweet condemning the land reform plan:
<QUOTE>"I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely
study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations
and the large scale killing of farmers. “South African Government
is now seizing land from white farmers.” @TuckerCarlson
@FoxNews"<END QUOTE>
Trump's tweet is based on a Wednesday evening segment by Fox News
analyst Tucker Carlson, which was highly inflammatory and misstated
some facts.
The South African government responded with an inflammatory tweet of
its own rejecting this claim:
<QUOTE>"South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception
which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our
colonial past. #landexpropriation @realDonaldTrump
@PresidencyZA"<END QUOTE>
I've written a few articles about South Africa's land expropriation
issue in the past, so I'm aware of the frequent claims that there's a
mass killing or even a genocide of white farmers going on, but I never
mentioned that in my articles because the claim is so outlandish, with
no basis in fact.
According to published figures, 47 white farmers were killed in
2017, and that was a 20-year low, with a peak in 1998 of 153.
Now 47 murdered white farmers might seem like a lot, and indeed
it is a lot, but other published figures indicate that 30-40 people
in South Africa are murdered every day.
So say what you want about South Africa -- that it's a very dangerous
country with a very racist population and a very high murder rate, and
even mass killings across the country -- but 47 in one year is a
minuscule number compared to the total number of murders, and is
nowhere near the level of mass killings or genocide of white farmers.
This controversy has provoked the usual hysterical name-calling on the
right and the left. The left claims that Trump's tweet is racist and
white supremacist, and the right claims that it proves that South
Africa is racist and black supremacist.
Julius Malena, the popular young politician that heads the Economic
Freedom Fighters (EFF), advocating land seizures without compensation,
responded to Trump's tweet on Thursday: "They will kill us for
that. There’s a group of white right-wingers who are being trained by
Jews in Pretoria to be snipers." Times Live (South Africa) and CBS News and Guardian (London, 27-Jun) and The Citizen (South Africa)
****
**** Cyril Ramaphosa defends land expropriation policy
****
While Malena was his usual hysterical and incoherent self,
other South Africa politicians said that Trump's tweet raised
valid concerns.
Government official Lindiwe Sisulu issued a statement saying that she
"has noted the unfortunate comments on Twitter by [Trump]."
redistribution and crime‚
The South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) issued a statement
pointing out that the policy of land confiscation without compensation
would create enormous problems for South Africa, particularly in
trying to attract investment funds:
<QUOTE>"Seen alongside South Africa’s decision to terminate
its bilateral investment treaties‚ expropriation without
compensation has prompted a great deal of concern about the
security of their assets‚ particularly among the European
investors most directly impacted.
Even President [Cyril] Ramaphosa’s investment envoys have referred
to the difficulties that expropriation without compensation has
created for them in attempting to attract desperately needed funds
to South Africa."<END QUOTE>
Indeed, after Trump's tweet the rand currency weakened against the
dollar by 1.7%, and some officials raised concerns that Trump would
impose sanctions on South Africa, as he's done with Turkey. Many
outside investors are concerned that South Africa will go the way of
Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe confiscated white-owned farms and turned
them over to his tribal cronies who knew nothing about farming, with
the result was that a country that was exporting food in the late
1990s was facing almost total starvation ten years later.
Ramaphosa has been dealing with very explosive land reform issue in
South Africa, which is divided not only by race but by tribe. Black
South Africans account for 91% of the population,but they own just
1.2% of the land. Since independence in 1994, attempts to acquire
white-owned farms with fair compensation and distribute them to black
farmers has been an almost total failure.
Ramaphosa has insisted that South Africa has learned from the
experience in Zimbabwe, and it would not be repeated. On Wednesday,
he parliament that increasing access to land for the poor would happen
in an orderly fashion and would initially focus on making state
property available.
Ramaphosa outlined some instances where expropriation without
compensation might be justified:
<QUOTE>"unused land‚ derelict buildings‚ purely speculative
land holdings‚ or circumstances where occupiers have strong
historical rights and title holders do not occupy or use their
land‚ such as labour tenancy‚ informal settlements and abandoned
inner-city buildings."<END QUOTE>
Ramaphosa insists that the proposed amendment to the constitution
would prohibit "the arbitrary deprivation of property."
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, it's highly unlikely
that South Africa will ever reach the point where it's confiscating
farms. South Africa is in a generational Crisis era, and an explosive
racial issue like land reform is more likely to trigger a tribal war.
Times Live (South Africa) and Bloomberg and Times Live
Related Stories:
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa,
Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Mike Pompeo,
Julius Malena, Economic Freedom Fighters, EFF,
Lindiwe Sisulu, South African Institute of Race Relations, IRR
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- South Africa politics roiled by Trump tweet on killing white farmers
- Cyril Ramaphosa defends land expropriation policy
****
**** South Africa politics roiled by Trump tweet on killing white farmers
****
White farmer in South Africa (Reuters)
South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday reconfirmed that
the country plans to go ahead with a land reform constitutional
amendment that would explicitly permit confiscation of farms without
compensation. The amendment is believed to be targeted at farms owned
by white farmers, but some in the government dispute that.
Ramaphosa's government was thrown into turmoil on Thursday after
president Donald Trump issued a tweet condemning the land reform plan:
<QUOTE>"I have asked Secretary of State @SecPompeo to closely
study the South Africa land and farm seizures and expropriations
and the large scale killing of farmers. “South African Government
is now seizing land from white farmers.” @TuckerCarlson
@FoxNews"<END QUOTE>
Trump's tweet is based on a Wednesday evening segment by Fox News
analyst Tucker Carlson, which was highly inflammatory and misstated
some facts.
The South African government responded with an inflammatory tweet of
its own rejecting this claim:
<QUOTE>"South Africa totally rejects this narrow perception
which only seeks to divide our nation and reminds us of our
colonial past. #landexpropriation @realDonaldTrump
@PresidencyZA"<END QUOTE>
I've written a few articles about South Africa's land expropriation
issue in the past, so I'm aware of the frequent claims that there's a
mass killing or even a genocide of white farmers going on, but I never
mentioned that in my articles because the claim is so outlandish, with
no basis in fact.
According to published figures, 47 white farmers were killed in
2017, and that was a 20-year low, with a peak in 1998 of 153.
Now 47 murdered white farmers might seem like a lot, and indeed
it is a lot, but other published figures indicate that 30-40 people
in South Africa are murdered every day.
So say what you want about South Africa -- that it's a very dangerous
country with a very racist population and a very high murder rate, and
even mass killings across the country -- but 47 in one year is a
minuscule number compared to the total number of murders, and is
nowhere near the level of mass killings or genocide of white farmers.
This controversy has provoked the usual hysterical name-calling on the
right and the left. The left claims that Trump's tweet is racist and
white supremacist, and the right claims that it proves that South
Africa is racist and black supremacist.
Julius Malena, the popular young politician that heads the Economic
Freedom Fighters (EFF), advocating land seizures without compensation,
responded to Trump's tweet on Thursday: "They will kill us for
that. There’s a group of white right-wingers who are being trained by
Jews in Pretoria to be snipers." Times Live (South Africa) and CBS News and Guardian (London, 27-Jun) and The Citizen (South Africa)
****
**** Cyril Ramaphosa defends land expropriation policy
****
While Malena was his usual hysterical and incoherent self,
other South Africa politicians said that Trump's tweet raised
valid concerns.
Government official Lindiwe Sisulu issued a statement saying that she
"has noted the unfortunate comments on Twitter by [Trump]."
redistribution and crime‚
The South African Institute of Race Relations (IRR) issued a statement
pointing out that the policy of land confiscation without compensation
would create enormous problems for South Africa, particularly in
trying to attract investment funds:
<QUOTE>"Seen alongside South Africa’s decision to terminate
its bilateral investment treaties‚ expropriation without
compensation has prompted a great deal of concern about the
security of their assets‚ particularly among the European
investors most directly impacted.
Even President [Cyril] Ramaphosa’s investment envoys have referred
to the difficulties that expropriation without compensation has
created for them in attempting to attract desperately needed funds
to South Africa."<END QUOTE>
Indeed, after Trump's tweet the rand currency weakened against the
dollar by 1.7%, and some officials raised concerns that Trump would
impose sanctions on South Africa, as he's done with Turkey. Many
outside investors are concerned that South Africa will go the way of
Zimbabwe, where Robert Mugabe confiscated white-owned farms and turned
them over to his tribal cronies who knew nothing about farming, with
the result was that a country that was exporting food in the late
1990s was facing almost total starvation ten years later.
Ramaphosa has been dealing with very explosive land reform issue in
South Africa, which is divided not only by race but by tribe. Black
South Africans account for 91% of the population,but they own just
1.2% of the land. Since independence in 1994, attempts to acquire
white-owned farms with fair compensation and distribute them to black
farmers has been an almost total failure.
Ramaphosa has insisted that South Africa has learned from the
experience in Zimbabwe, and it would not be repeated. On Wednesday,
he parliament that increasing access to land for the poor would happen
in an orderly fashion and would initially focus on making state
property available.
Ramaphosa outlined some instances where expropriation without
compensation might be justified:
<QUOTE>"unused land‚ derelict buildings‚ purely speculative
land holdings‚ or circumstances where occupiers have strong
historical rights and title holders do not occupy or use their
land‚ such as labour tenancy‚ informal settlements and abandoned
inner-city buildings."<END QUOTE>
Ramaphosa insists that the proposed amendment to the constitution
would prohibit "the arbitrary deprivation of property."
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, it's highly unlikely
that South Africa will ever reach the point where it's confiscating
farms. South Africa is in a generational Crisis era, and an explosive
racial issue like land reform is more likely to trigger a tribal war.
Times Live (South Africa) and Bloomberg and Times Live
Related Stories:
- South Africa announces plans for unpaid confiscation of white-owned farms (04-Aug-2018)
- Moving sharply left, South Africa calls for potentially disastrous land reform (01-Mar-2018)
- Xenophobic violence against migrants returns to South Africa (27-Feb-2017)
- Xenophobic violence - Generational history of South Africa (31-May-2008)
- South African xenophobic violence echoes 1820s Mfecane Zulu massacre (17-Apr-2015)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa,
Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Mike Pompeo,
Julius Malena, Economic Freedom Fighters, EFF,
Lindiwe Sisulu, South African Institute of Race Relations, IRR
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
