The long queues to the Cecil Emmett Hall in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, are a reminder of similar queues seen during the first democratic elections in South Africa in 1994. From the energetic youth to the elderly on crutches, everyone waits patiently for their turn to make submissions to the Joint Constitutional Review Committee.
As in other provinces, the hearings have produced diametrically conflicting views, with those supporting the expropriation of land without compensation pinning their argument on redress of past injustices, while those that do not support the amendment of Section 25 arguing that economic collapse will follow the loss of property rights.
For one businessman in the construction sector in the Vryheid area, the current debate has already cost South Africa, and Vryheid in particular, investment opportunities that would have created much-needed job opportunities in the area and in the country.
“I support fully the redress of past injustices, but I am not here to argue for or against the motion. What I want to highlight is that the current debate we are having is already impacting negatively on businesses on the ground. My company has recently lost three big contracts because investors are uncertain of what is going to happen in the next few years in the country,” the businessman said.
“The first contract was from a German consortium that wanted to invest in construction in Vryheid. They said they want to wait for the next two years to see what will happen,” he said.
Another project was a farmer who wanted to build bigger packing areas and a processing plant on his farm to increase productivity. While the third project was to extend the accommodation on a game farm, which would have resulted in more beds and increasing job opportunities.
“As a result, we have had to retrench 120 workers over the past few months. We anticipate that a further 40 workers will be retrenched in the coming few months. That is the kind of impact I am talking about,” he emphasised. He called for a wholesale reflection of what the current debate is costing the country.
The committee will continue this week with public hearings in KwaZulu-Natal to get views on whether Section 25 must be amended.
Malatswa Molepo
19 July 2018
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