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The Democratic Alliance (DA) is disappointed that Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform Gugile Nkwinti used his budget speech to show that he will continue, as his predecessor did, to use the "willing buyer-willing seller" principle as a scapegoat for his Department and his government's own failings.

Addressing the National Assembly on Wednesday, Minister Nkwinti threatened that changes are to be made to the willing buyer-willing seller model of land reform - a threat his predecessor made as well. But the real problem with the Department is that more than 50% of farms redistributed have collapsed, and are no longer productive, because the Department has managed the process so badly.

Threatening the willing buyer-willing seller principle is a short-sighted way of distracting attention from this issue, but it will have disastrous consequences for the economy. Successful economies are built on the bedrock of the protection of property rights and there is a strong symbiotic relationship between property rights and positive economic growth.

Examples are many of countries where the absence of a secured property rights regime has led to a disinvestment in those countries. Zimbabwe is one. People are less likely to invest in countries where their property can be taken at whim by the state and do not have to compensate market related prices for those properties. South Africa's economy is already fragile and we cannot take this risk.

Any policy shift from the willing buyer-willing seller will require another amendment to the constitution. Our constitution has clear provisions which protect property and offers clear steps to be followed when the state uses its powers to expropriate. The state has always had the power to expropriate provided it does so within the limits prescribed in the Constitution, which include that the "amount of the compensation and the time and manner of payment must be just and equitable, reflecting an equitable balance between the public interest and the interest of those affected, having regard to all relevant circumstances including ....the market value of the property". It is inconceivable how the willing buyer-willing could be changed without tampering with this constitutional provision.