Why would land expropriation work in South Africa when it has failed miserably everywhere else?

The government of South Africa seems to be taking steps to remove white South African farmers from their land without compensation. The land would be owned by the state and presumably divided equitably among people who want to farm it. The arguments for it are reasonable enough -- regardless of how long the same families have farmed it, they have been passing down stolen land. The reality, however, is much more complicated. Land redistribution of this type has never worked, and has likely killed more people than it released from poverty.

Aside from the violence of removing the farmer from his or her property, there is the matter of farming said property once he or she is removed. Farming is not an enterprise that one can expect to be immediately successful at -- a lot of trial and error is involved in establishing a successful farm. Previous attempts at dividing land in this way have been resounding failures. The situation in neighboring Zimbabwe immediately springs to mind, but people should also consider what happened in China and the Soviet Union. There must be a better way.

Some form of land redistribution is necessary in order to right historic wrongs, but kicking established farmers off their land at gunpoint is not the answer. It would seem far better to approach the issue in a generational manner. Institute an inheritance tax on land holdings over a certain size so that land is gradually returned to the state as people retire or die. In the meantime, support people who want to bow out early with reasonable compensation. Finally, don't make it about race... colonialism and racist policies were responsible for many of these issues; reversing the consequences does not have to mean repeating the crimes. As Gandhi once said, 'an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'.