EWC or investment, not both – IRR
19 November 2020
Much fanfare attended this week’s South Africa Investment Conference (SAIC), but any hope of painting the country as a prime investment destination is contradicted by data on investor sentiment, and undermined by the government’s own determination to press ahead with expropriation without compensation (EWC).
The new Expropriation Bill, which, if enacted, would deepen the steady erosion of property rights under the ANC, is a red flag to the investment on which growth and job-creation depend.
It would add to an already hostile regulatory environment which – whatever the pledges at fancy conferences like SAIC in Sandton this week – has led to a steady withdrawal of investment in recent years.
Consider that