In an open letter to the South African ambassador in Warsaw, Polish conservative societies criticize the recently planned amendments to the South African constitution. Motivated by worry for the lives and rights of white citizens in South Africa, they ask the ambassador to intercede in his government to stop the amendments on their behalf.
The planned amendments abolish the need to pay compensations to owners of lands seized by the government. The South African president Cyril Ramphosa has made the campaign of land redistribution one of the key policies during his rule. The amendment will allow the government to begin a mass-seizure of white owned land in the country.
“The world cannot be silent in the face of such audacious violation of basic human rights,” the head of the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, Tomasz Wróblewski writes on twitter.
The world cannot be silent in the face of such audacious violation of basic human rights
The Polish conservative societies argue that these amendments are undemocratic. They also fear that this will only fuel the already heated conflict between black and white people in South Africa. Each year dozens of white farmers are killed during raids on farmsteads and millions of white citizens leave the country in fear for their lives and families.
The societies also warn that these actions will ruin South Africa. “As Poles, experienced in our own history, we have a moral obligation to warn you of these thoughtless acts,” they write. After the Second World War, Poland’s communist government also seized land without compensation. The policy left hundreds of thousands in poverty and ruined the nation. Poland struggles with the consequences of those action to this day.
The letter was signed by organizations such as the Warsaw Enterprise Institute, the Jagiellonian Institute, the Adam Smith Centre and the KoLiber Association.
