WATCH: Why Ramaphosa’s economic advisor says 'be frank' when talking to investors about land reform

Fin24 sat down with Trudi Makhaya, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s economic advisor and coordinator of his four investment envoys, to hear her views about land reform, the parliamentary process towards possible changes to property rights and how this is impacting investor sentiment.

"We are frank about land reform. It is a historical issue we have had to deal with," she told Fin24.

"Many analysts argue that if you read the Constitution as it is, there is already scope to expropriate without compensation under certain circumstances. There are criteria for possibly coming up with zero compensation, for instance the history of the use of the property."

On the other hand, she says there are people arguing that, if that was the case, it would have been done already, so there must be some impediment.

Maybe there is scope for clarification, according to Makhaya.

"In the past the tendency has been to pay top market value. Maybe it needs to be written into the Constitution specifically about zero compensation," she says.

Ramaphosa told Parliament in May that his investment envoys are on top of their game in notifying investors about potential policy changes, as they go on their charm offensive to attract $100bn in investment.

WATCH:

* Read more about Fin24’s Union Buildings interview with Trudi Makhaya on Thursday.

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