WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Johannesburg, South Africa-based Free Market Foundation (FMF) was named one of six finalists for this year's prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award for its Khaya Lam Land Reform project.
"Our task is to make everyone in the country aware of how the country will change for the better if we can extinguish the effects of one of the greatest crimes of apartheid: depriving black South Africans of property rights for 78 years," said FMF Director Eustace Davie. "Calls for information are coming in from all over the country. The process has now been proven. Our challenge is to get as many people as possible involved to get the job done countrywide as rapidly as possible."
Black South Africans have been denied property rights since a 1913 law took land and houses owned by black people and banned them from owning property; leaving them completely reliant on apartheid socialist housing. Today between 5 and 7 million black families live in these apartheid-era houses, and although 1991 legislation gave them ownership rights, government inaction on titling means they still live in constant fear of losing their homes.
Khaya Lam means "My Home" and aims to correct this injustice by helping black South Africans secure fully tradable titles to their property.
The Khaya Lam pilot project in the Ngwathe (**pronounced "Nnn-gwatee"**) area has given hundreds of fully tradable title deeds to homeowners and unlocked $4.5 million dollars of previously dead capital for this impoverished community. Most importantly, it has created a groundswell, and resulted in a workable blueprint for the titling of all such properties in South Africa.
With the Khaya Lam project, the Free Market Foundation is reversing one of the greatest crimes of apartheid, promoting respect for property rights, and laying the foundation for a free and prosperous future for all South Africans.
What: Free Market Foundation's Khaya Lam Land Reform project named one of six finalists for Atlas Network's prestigious $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award
When: Nov. 12, 2015, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner closing ceremony – Capitale, 130 Bowery, New York, NY 10013 (Bowery and Grand St.)
Press Contact: [email protected] or (202) 449-8441
Awarded since 2004, the Templeton Freedom Award is named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. The award annually honors his legacy by identifying and recognizing the most exceptional and innovative contributions to the understanding of free enterprise, and the public policies that encourage prosperity, innovation, and human fulfillment via free competition. The award is generously supported by Templeton Religion Trust and will be presented during Atlas Network's Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner gala dinner ceremony Nov. 12, 2015 in New York City. The winning organization will receive a $100,000 prize and the runners-up will receive $5,000.
The 2015 Templeton Freedom Award finalists are:
Acton Institute (Grand Rapids, Mich., United States) — Poverty, Inc.
Center for Dissemination of Economic Knowledge for Freedom (CEDICE Freedom) (Caracas, Venezuela) — Watchdog for Freedom and Democracy Project
Free Market Foundation (FMF) (Johannesburg, South Africa) — Khaya Lam Land Reform Project
Institute for Justice (IJ) (Arlington, Va., United States) — Strategic Research Program
Institute of Public Affairs (Melbourne, Australia) — Repeal the Carbon Tax Campaign
Tax Foundation (Washington, District of Columbia, United States) — State Business Tax Climate Index
About Free Market Foundation
Based in Johannesburg, South Africa, The Free Market Foundation is an independent public benefit organization founded in 1975 to promote and foster an open society, the rule of law, personal liberty, and economic and press freedom as fundamental components of its advocacy of human rights and democracy based on classical liberal principles. It is financed by membership subscriptions, donations, and sponsorships.
freemarketfoundation.com
About Atlas Network
Washington-based Atlas Network is a nonprofit organization that strengthens the worldwide freedom movement by connecting 470 independent partners in 96 countries that share the vision of a free, prosperous, and peaceful world where limited governments defend the rule of law, private property, and free markets.
AtlasNetwork.org
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151021/279335
SOURCE Atlas Network
Share this article