Bloomberg | 17 February 2015

South Africa foreigner limit applies to farmland, minister says

by Nasreen Seria

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa’s proposed laws to restrict foreigners from owning land will apply to farms and exclude residential property, Rural Development and Land Affairs Minister Gugile Nkwinti said.

“We’re talking about arable land,” Nkwinti said in a televised interview with the South African Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday. “We’re not talking about property, people who own in residential areas.”

President Jacob Zuma said in his state-of-the-nation speech last week that proposed legislation will allow non-citizens to lease land for 30 to 50 years. That raised concerns among property developers that it may undermine foreign investment.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nasreen Seria in Johannesburg at [email protected]