What happened?
South Africa’s parliament voted last week to take land from white farmers and not pay them compensation.
“We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land,” Economic Freedom Fighters party leader Julius Malema said.
Because this has gone so well before …
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who took office in mid-February, has vowed to speed up the seizure of land from white owners.
“This original sin that was committed when our country was colonized must be resolved in a way that will take South Africa forward,” he said.
Ramaphosa has said the land must be be transferred in a way that doesn’t disrupt food production or encourage violence. In the past, redistributing land hasn’t gone so smoothly. Zimbabwe’s land transfers resulted in increased violence and neglected farms that didn’t produce food.
What else should I know?
There’s a petition circulating that asks President Donald Trump to bring white people evicted from their own land in South Africa to the U.S. That’ll go over well.
Glenn’s take:
Obviously, this is a bad idea that we’ve already seen played out in Zimbabwe. But Trump taking in the white farmers would only create more problems.
“It’s not good,” Glenn summed it up.
