Calls for moratorium on foreigners buying land in South Africa

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Delegates at the Land Tenure Summit in Boksburg on the East Rand have called for a moratorium on foreigners buying land in South Africa.

The three day summit ended with this call, after the Minster of Rural Development and Land Reform, Gugile Nkwinti opened the summit declaring foreign ownership of land as a big problem.

This call is in line with the Acquisition and Disposal of Land by Foreign Persons Bill which is expected to be tabled in Parliament this year and which will limit foreign ownership.

While foreigners bought land in South Africa worth R6.5bn last year, this is little more than 5% of total property ownership.

Property specialists have warned that limiting this will do more harm than good to the economy and land experts argue that the emphasis on foreign ownership is a mere red herring designed to draw attention away from government’s land reform failures.