No land grabs in SA, your investments are safe - Ramaphosa tells German counterpart

President Cyril Ramaphosa said at a media briefing on Tuesday morning in Cape Town with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier that there will be no land grabs in South Africa and that foreign investments in the country are safe.

“Investors should have no fear that their land or investment will be taken,” he said. 

The visit by Steinmeier to SA, the first by a German president in 20 years, follows a meeting between Ramaphosa and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on the margins of the G20 Africa Summit in Berlin. 

Echoing the remarks he made during a recent visit to the EU, Ramaphosa said South Africa was dealing with problems like the unequal distribution of land through a structured process. 

“In the land reform process we must ensure property rights for all but also unlock use of land to grow our economy in an inclusive way,” he said. 

Ramaphosa said the land reform process wil be structured and as it is debated, solutions will be found.

"We are saying that land reform is a process in SA in order to have more stability," he said.

Speaking of the ongoing judicial commission of inquiry into state capture, Ramaphosa said that while he would not yet offer a view on the work of the commission as it is still underway, it was bringing “to the fore the truth of what happened in the past”. 

“The international community wants to see if the state capture commission is going well,” he said. “The state capture commission is almost a cleansing process of all the bad things that happened in our country."

"We are saying that through our laws we will protect investments. We don't do things on an arbitrary basis. We have strong institutions which also protect our people," said Ramaphosa.

"South Africans can go to court even to take on the government and sometimes they even win."

Ramaphosa said SA is a country that is open and transparent, even when dealing with problems like land reform.

Steinmeier said that SA is showing a visible and successful fight against corruption.

"As perpetrators have been punished, we cannot underestimate the crucial contribution this makes to greater trust and ensuring investors will return," said Steinmeier.

Asked about his view on SA's land reform, he said land reform in Germany was different to that in SA and therefore he cannot really comment on it.

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