It has significant implications for South Africa’s economy and hence the living standards of all its people. It has equally significant human rights implications given that property rights anchor civil rights in all free societies.
Extensively canvassed in the media, this is an issue that now sits front and centre of South Africa’s national debate and has also attracted widespread attention abroad where opinion has been split between the reassurances of the South African government on the one hand and warnings of dire economic and political consequences by various activists on the other.
The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) has been approached by numerous foreign actors for advice on what is likely to occur and what the political and economic consequences will be.
IRR analysts will over the next three weeks tour Europe and the United States to address these questions and brief various government, investor, and political groups with interests in South Africa. Some of these briefings will be public while others will occur behind closed doors. Two public reports will be released in Washington and Brussels on the likely consequences of EWC.
The IRR is known for the quality of its analysis, and its work in modelling future developments. We intend to offer a frank assessment that avoids either the hyperbole that has taken hold in some quarters or the complacency that prevails in others, and that sets these developments within their short- and long-term context.
The IRR has campaigned for property rights for all South Africans, both in the country and abroad, since its inception in 1929. That objective has not changed. As on all policy matters we deal with we will offer evidence-based commentary on the implications of the South African government diluting property rights protections – and to advocate for solutions founded on liberty and personal freedom.
The IRR invites all South Africans to join it in winning global support for property rights in South Africa and in securing a future of freedom for themselves and their loved ones by SMSing their name to 32823.
