OPEN LETTER TO:
Mr. Pravin Gordhan
Minister of Finance
Republic of South Africa
Pretoria
Dear Mr Gordhan
Firstly TAU SA wishes to express its appreciation for your personal endeavours in preventing South Africa’s economy from descending into junk status. We can assure you that the commercial farming community supports you wholeheartedly.
We also took notice of your call that government, labour and the private sector must take hands to help the economy grow again.
In this regard, we are also happy to support you.
However, we are afraid that your government will see this as a means of simply passing the proverbial buck to the private sector, while government will then sit back and continue with their implementation of policies that are actually inimical to sound economic principles.
In this regard we have some suggestions to make for you to consider in order that there is real support for your efforts.
1. All your colleagues should openly support your efforts;
2. Political and ideological ideals should be set aside and replaced with internationally proven economic principles;
3. Labour unions must be prohibited from tabling ridiculous demands and crippling the economy with their violent strikes and protests;
4. Political parties must refrain from making radical statements which create a climate of anarchy and lawlessness.
5. You should intensify your efforts to eradicate corruption and maladministration.
From an agricultural point of view there are critical issues to which the president, yourself and cabinet ministers must commit yourselves:
1. That all foreign investment must be guaranteed and protected;
2. That the principles of a free market system and an open economy must be guaranteed and protected;
3. That private ownership of land and movable assets must be guaranteed and protected;
4. People living on land that belongs to the Republic of South Africa, as well as those who live on tribal land, should receive title deeds in order to give them the opportunity to partake in the open economy;
5. That all actions resulting in farmers losing their property rights should be discontinued;
6. That the 50/50 principle that will certainly result in food insecurity should be terminated;
7. That the economy will be stimulated when inhabitants of RDP houses must also receive title deeds to their properties, and that government commits itself thereto;
8. That the racially-based Black Economic Empowerment legislation be replaced by Sustainable Environmental Economic Development (SEED),
9. That accusations that farmers have stolen the land be stopped and repudiated.
We are of the opinion that when all participants work together utilising sustainable economic principles, our sinking economy can be saved. We are prepared to co-operate on the basis of the utilisation of these principles.
What we are not prepared to do is participate in any political process which will ruin the farming community and the country. We will not be part of any action which will contribute to the downgrading of our country to junk status.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely
Louis Meintjes
President: TAU SA
