‘Give black people titles to the land their homes are on’ – Christo Wiese
The issue of ownership of land often is extremely topical in our country, although the focus is usually on agriculture.
Image credit: Christo Wiese - Risk And Riches by TJ Strydom
Lester Kiewit speaks to Christo Wiese, former Steinhoff chairperson.
Listen to the interview in the audio below.
Businessman Christo Wiese believes black land ownership is key for economic growth.
However, he says too much emphasis is placed on agricultural land over residential land.
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Wiese says the focus should be on giving black South Africans the title deeds to the property their houses are built on.
“People concentrate on the wrong thing. How many households who own the structures on the land but not the land actually want to be farmers?”
- Christo Wiese, former Steinhoff chairperson
“We tackle this huge issue of expropriation without compensation. They don’t need to start with it there.”
- Christo Wiese, former Steinhoff chairperson
“The conversation has always been wrong.”
- Christo Wiese, former Steinhoff chairperson
Wiese was the chairperson of Steinhoff and lost half his wealth when the company crashed.
However, he says this did not make any significant changes to his life.
“It was a sad loss of money, but money you make, and you lose, and you have to try and make again.”
- Christo Wiese, former Steinhoff chairperson
Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the interview.