Zuma Plans a Heist

I had taken South African president Zuma for a reasonably smart guy, but it appears that “taken” should be “MIStaken”. He is reported to be calling for South African legislators to unite in amending their constitution to enable land owned by white farmers to be expropriated without compensation (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4281088/Zuma-wants-land-owned-white-occupiers-taken.html). 

I’ve been to South Africa a few times. I know many people there and from there. I’ve studied the history of the region. I am not an expert on that country, but I am confident that such a move will not be as unresisted as it was in Zimbabwe. Most South African farmers are Afrikaners, and I just don’t foresee them handing over the keys.  Violence is the almost certain result. Organized violence. Clever violence.

And what would Zuma do with the land anyway? Give it to whom? His family? His friends? His political supporters? No doubt there would be some nonsense about it being given to those to whom it rightfully belongs. But who is that? It’s not as though land was taken from specific owners whose descendants can be identified. What special favors will a person have to have done for Zuma and his allies to be granted someone’s land?

And what would the new owners do with it? Farm it? Lease it out? Either way, I can think of hardly any scenario in which agricultural production would not crater post-seizure. What a blow to the nation that president is supposed to protect!