Posted on 11/20/2018 6:21:13 AM PST by ek_hornbeck
Those farmers who are "land poor" (own lots of land, but no liquid assets) obviously can't, since they won't be able to sell their land or get any compensation for it from the ANC. Those who have some liquid assets to take with them can still get decent acreage in some western states. It's very unproductive land on a per acre basis, but so is much of the land in South Africa.
For those who accept Putin's invitation, there's always the hope that Putin would protect them from the worst depredations of organized crime and government officials, because having South Africans settle and farm in Russia would be such a great piece of propaganda for his government.
Might makes right.
Sad.
Grim.
The inner core of every government in the world, throughout history.
Which is why America exists.
How much of our republic remains?
Not much.
Lawrence Welk being one of the more famous decendents of German Russian farmers who settle in North Dakota.
In western North Dakota one can even find a Russian Orthodox Church or two!
Much as I detest the hagiography surrounding Mandela, he was the best of the worst in the ANC. If only for pragmatic (economic) and PR reasons, he didn't want to repeat the Mugabe model in South Africa, unlike his sadistic wife Winnie and many others in the ANC who wanted a wholescale slaughter of whites.
It was only a matter of time before things went far downhill: Mbeke, Zuma, and now Ramaphosa who is basically Mugabe-Lite, all people who are unwilling or unable to think practically and learn from history, as you say.
Your post is very interesting. And sad. Anyone who doubts how hard the Afrikaner farmers work should read,”Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight.”
Were you there on business & did you feel safe?
Handing the farms over to ANC cronies means a repeat of Zimbabwe - Mugabe did pretty much the same and the land went permanently fallow because nobody worked the land, at least not in a competent way.
There are other alternatives, perhaps Argentina or Uraguay
Maybe, but in those countries they’d have to contend with the same type of economic instability and corruption as in Russia. The climate may be more to their liking, however.
Just a ‘regular’ vacation (was not my choice, the wife had this dream of seeing it).
Safe is a relative word.
I stayed in three locations. The first was a vineyard hotel thirty miles east of Cape Town. Private security...limited entry. Everyone (employees included) gave you the impression of safe and hospitable in nature. Food and drink were abundant/reasonable.
Second was a lodge setting in the far NE of the county (maybe an hour south of Zimbabwe). There, you needed to worry more about lions, snakes, etc...than human threats. Again, virtually everyone went way out of the way to be hospitable and openly friendly. Just lots of open landscape and the scenes like the Grand Canyon.
Third was Cape Town city. There...it’s a mixed up feeling. Ultra modern town...built for tourism...has tons of potential for industry and business operations. Massive townships on the edge of town. Significant unemployment. Corrupted government situation for generations. Parts of town, you could walk with zero fear. Other parts of town....less so. Drug scene is escalating...gang violence...shootings...politically active groups on thug-violence (threatening blacks as well as whites). Oddly, I ate extemelly well, and probably spent a third less on dining/drinking than I would in most other vacation spots.
One of the key things I walked away with...virtually no one believes data/statistics that the government hands out. Goes beyond whites or blacks...total fake factual disbelief. Oddly, I came to meet a number of folks who know of Trump....like his style, and will even openly say that they need an honest ‘Trump’ character to arrive and fix the mess. Just so much potential...some much open landscape...so many folks that you could put to work tomorrow, and they can’t grasp that.
The Western Cape is capable on its own of surviving as a nation, and I’d take a guess that fifty-percent of the Africans in the region are anti-ANC.
Can anyone point to an example where this type of “stealing” private property in this manner served the long run benefit of the people?
It will happen. We knew it and predicted it. The world doesn’t care. Never forget, bammy went to SA in July to encourage them to take land from Whitey and to kill them. (I knew he used carefully chosen words, but the meaning was obvious.)
The Zulus and their leader being very anti-ANC and preferred to ally themselves with the Apartheid government in the 70's and 80's. However, the Zulus are primarily in the eastern part of the country, and I'm not sure where their political sympathies are today.
If farming is discounted, is there still the possibility of life in the cities?
Sure, but the skill set associated with farming often doesn’t translate well into city life. Their kids would do just fine though.
I would make the comparison of the Western Cape being like Salinas, California. The far northeast...more of a combination of Santa Fe, NM and Northern Arizona mountainous region. Fantastic geography and just amazing scenery.
My take, if the land seizures start up...an intact orchard (say 1,000 acres) will be taken by one single owner...connected to the ANC with some manager brought in to keep the orchard in a productive state. Most all of the ‘hands’ are local blacks/tribal members. The ANC has had two decades to review tax revenue and know what each operation brings in...so I would suggest that they will only take productive lands. Vineyards will go the same way. But all of these have had millions spent to have irrigation as part of the cycle.
The vineyard I stayed at...had their own private lake/dam fixed up and siphoned water off to handle the drought cycle. Probably took several years to put this together.
On the far NE trip...there’s a massive private dam built there and probably feeds tens of thousands of acres of property. None of those orchards would have existed fifty years ago. A lot of smart folks put effort in and really planned this out.
I don’t see the new owners having this knowledge or expertise...they are just friends (likely) of the ANC. They will have to hire folks to come in and manage the day-to-day operations.
Now, the curious thing I noted as well...if you look over at Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia...they are all working deals to attract the farmers curious in leaving. Some tobacco companies are purchasing land, and making deals to bring them and start major tobacco operations. Russia is trying to talk 15,000 farmers into relocating there.
Once the stolen back lands are repatriated South Africa will quick become a economic powerhouse on the order of Venezuela!
Economically Argentina is a house of cards
The headline should read: “Half of South Africa expected to starve. Climate alarmists pleased.”
ONE white farmer can successfully run a 4,000 acre farm.
One black in Africa cannot successfully run a patch of land= 1/4 Acre.
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