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The French ambassador in South Africa, Ms. Elisabeth Barbier, during a discussion with the FF Plus, expressed her concern about the direction which the ANC government has taken and says they do not feel comfortable about French investments in South Africa, Adv. Anton Alberts, the FF plus’ parliamentary spokesperson on the economy says.

According to Adv. Alberts, he and Barbier spoke about the ANC government’s series of draft bills on expropriation and investments and she indicated that it was worrying the French government and that they are watching the situation to see how it develops.

To a question of Adv. Alberts what message he could convey from the ambassador to the parliamentary portfolio committee on Trade and Industry, she said that the French government is concerned about the future of French investments in South Africa.

According to an article today in the Business Day under the caption ‘Barrage of new laws alarms US firms in SA’, the Americans are concerned about the same aspects.

The head of America’s Chamber of Commerce in South Africa, Ms. Carol O’ Brian, says that they are concerned about the same laws as well as the proposed bill on property that foreigners my own in South Africa, according to the article.

The Chamber represents approximately 250 of the nearly 600 American companies in South Africa, including General Electric and Google. Adv. Alberts will be meeting with the American Ambassador next week.

Adv. Alberts says the ANC is once again succeeding in this way to score an own goal with its economic policy and it will be responsible for de facto sanctions being instituted against South Africa in future through disinvestment which will be occurring, especially if the expropriation and investment draft bills which is currently being processed become laws.

“It will probably be the first time since 1994 that a government succeeds in having sanctions instituted against it by chasing investors away through official policies and legislation. We could possibly be going back to the years of apartheid isolation as a result of an ideologically driven government which is actually controlled by the SACP.

“It would be funny, had it not been so sad. Many innocent people will eventually lose their jobs due to disinvestment,” Adv. Alberts says.

Issued by FF Plus