IMF backs South African land reform – with conditions
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) gave its full backing to South Africa’s land reform plan on Thursday – so long as the highly contentious process is transparent and based on the Constitution.
Speaking to Reuters, the IMF’s senior resident representative in South Africa, Montfort Mlachila, said that the reform must not damage farm output to ensure South Africans continue to have reliable food supplies.
“We are in full support of the need to undertake land reforms to address the issues of inequality.”
Speaking at his office in Pretoria, Mlachila said the IMF was not an expert on land reform. However, he said that there is a need to have a transparent, rules-based, and constitutional process that leads to desirable outcomes.
“It is particularly important not to undermine agricultural production and food security.”
Commenting on the South African economy, Mlachila said the IMF was unlikely to revise its growth forecast upwards. Last month the Fund kept its prediction of 2018 growth at 1.5%.
“Given the weaknesses in growth indicators in the second quarter of 2018, I don’t see us revising upwards,” he said, although he added that it was too early to say for definite.”
Mlachila’s comments are similar to those made by British prime minister Theresa May, who was in the country on Tuesday (28 August) as part of a working-visit.
“The UK has for some time now supported land reform. Land reform that is legal, that is transparent, that is generated through a democratic process,” May told reporters.
“It’s an issue that I raised and discussed with President Ramaphosa when he was in London earlier this year. I’ll be talking about it with him later today,” she said.
Read: May supports South Africa’s land reform – provided it’s done legally
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