Business tycoon Johann Rupert has weighed in on the contentious land expropriation debate saying there were misconceptions about the matter, which had mostly confused “land” with “property”.
“Without an inalienable right to private property, no person can build capital,” Rupert said.
His argument is premised on the age-old market principle that, globally and throughout history, institutions have always insisted on security before lending out their depositors’ funds.
“SA is no different, except in SA African blacks were denied this basic human right,” he said.
Last year the ANC publicly raked Rupert over the coals for his reported statement that radical economic transformation — then an ambiguous policy statement championed by the president of the day, Jacob Zuma — “was just a code word for theft”.
Rupert reportedly said this on the sidelines of Richemont’s AGM in Geneva.
But this week Rupert took a more conciliatory tone, pointing out how he had established Business Partners in 1980 as a means to uplift black entrepreneurs.
Read the full story in the Sunday Times.
