Leader - Why South Africa needs land reform legislation - FT.com
南非进行涉及种族问题的土地重新分配时最不需要的，就是美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)和各种白人至上主义者以极其歪曲的言辞干预。遗憾的是，这正是特朗普上周发推文要求他的国务卿调查“农场没收和征用以及大规模杀害农民”时所做的事情。The last thing South Africa needs as it takes on the racially charged issue of land re-distribution is for US president Donald Trump and assorted white supremacists to wade in with wildly distorted assertions. That, unfortunately, is what it got when Mr Trump tweeted last week that he had asked his secretary of state to look into “farm seizures and expropriations and the large scale killing of farmers”.

一个直接后果是兰特贬值。另一个是进一步激起由土地分配不均唤醒的种族紧张局势，土地分配不均是种族隔离留下的最具爆炸性的遗产之一。One immediate consequence was a slide in the value of the rand. Another was to further stir the racial tensions awakened by one of the most explosive legacies of apartheid: the unequal distribution of land.
根据官方审计数据，南非72%的农场和农业资产由白人所有，24%由非白人所有。在后者中，只有4%是占人口逾四分之三的非洲黑人。According to an official audit, 72 per cent of farms and agricultural holdings in South Africa are owned by whites and 24 per cent by non-whites. Of the latter, just 4 per cent are black Africans, who make up more than three quarters of the population.
这些数字存在争议，可能有所夸大。然而，它们确实反映了从1913年《原住民土地法》(Natives Land Act)开始的不公正所产生的广泛现实。《原住民土地法》让黑人几乎失去了他们的所有土地，随后的种族隔离制度确立了这种剥夺。These figures are controversial and probably overstate the case. They do however reflect a broad reality born of an injustice which began in 1913 with the Natives Land Act. This stripped black Africans of almost all their land, a process of dispossession entrenched subsequently by apartheid.

对土地价值而不是对其上建筑物及资产征收地产税或累进税，可能比直接征用土地更有效。An estate tax or progressive tax on land value rather than on the buildings and assets on it might be more effective than outright expropriation.
同样重要的是，南非政府必须让改革避免出现裙带资本主义，后者给黑人经济赋权——企业中的平权法案——带来了坏名声。有一种合理的担忧认为，土地征用将使非国大的支持者受益，而不是促进社会正义事业。As importantly, the government must inoculate the reforms against the crony capitalism that has given a bad name to black economic empowerment — affirmative action in business. There are legitimate concerns that expropriation will benefit ANC stalwarts rather than further the cause of social justice.
拉马福萨有机会以谨慎有序的方式解决这个问题，不改革才会带来灾难。.Mr Ramaphosa has a chance to go about this in a measured way. It is the alternatives that would spell disaster.

情况正好相反。如果他将调整现有的土地分配计划作为优先事项，那是因为不这么做在道德上和政治上都是站不住脚的。通过加速改革，他可能会在某种程度上将这个问题从诸如“经济自由斗士党”(Economic Freedom Fighters)的尤利乌斯*马勒马(Julius Malema)这样的激进分子手中夺走，他们提倡更加暴力的清算。什么都不做正好会引起特朗普错误声称已经在发生的那种动荡。To the contrary. If he has made adapting the existing land distribution programme a priority it is because it has become morally and politically untenable to do otherwise. By accelerating reforms, he may go some way towards taking the issue out of the hands of radicals such as the Economic Freedom Fighters of Julius Malema, who advocate a more violent reckoning. Doing nothing is to invite exactly the kind of upheaval Mr Trump claims erroneously is happening already.
如果南非要避免重复毁掉津巴布韦经济的那种破坏性土地掠夺，就必须让所有各方都参与其中，避免破坏财产权和投资环境。这将是一个微妙的平衡。If South Africa is to avoid repeating the destructive land seizures that ruined Zimbabwe’s economy, it must bring all sides on board and avoid undermining property rights and the investment environment. It will be a delicate balancing act.
拉马福萨需要做足够多的事情，才能解决这个问题而不引发长期不确定性。他必须在不威胁粮食安全并保持生产率的情况下做到这些。Mr Ramaphosa needs to do enough to draw a line under the issue without provoking prolonged uncertainty. He must do so without threatening food security and in a way that maintains productivity.

情况正好相反。如果他将调整现有的土地分配计划作为优先事项，那是因为不这么做在道德上和政治上都是站不住脚的。通过加速改革，他可能会在某种程度上将这个问题从诸如“经济自由斗士党”(Economic Freedom Fighters)的尤利乌斯*马勒马(Julius Malema)这样的激进分子手中夺走，他们提倡更加暴力的清算。什么都不做正好会引起特朗普错误声称已经在发生的那种动荡。To the contrary. If he has made adapting the existing land distribution programme a priority it is because it has become morally and politically untenable to do otherwise. By accelerating reforms, he may go some way towards taking the issue out of the hands of radicals such as the Economic Freedom Fighters of Julius Malema, who advocate a more violent reckoning. Doing nothing is to invite exactly the kind of upheaval Mr Trump claims erroneously is happening already.
如果南非要避免重复毁掉津巴布韦经济的那种破坏性土地掠夺，就必须让所有各方都参与其中，避免破坏财产权和投资环境。这将是一个微妙的平衡。If South Africa is to avoid repeating the destructive land seizures that ruined Zimbabwe’s economy, it must bring all sides on board and avoid undermining property rights and the investment environment. It will be a delicate balancing act.
拉马福萨需要做足够多的事情，才能解决这个问题而不引发长期不确定性。他必须在不威胁粮食安全并保持生产率的情况下做到这些。Mr Ramaphosa needs to do enough to draw a line under the issue without provoking prolonged uncertainty. He must do so without threatening food security and in a way that maintains productivity.