The civil rights organisation AfriForum has described the economic growth plan announced by Pres Cyril Ramaphosa on 15 October 2020, as economically naive and utopian.
Ernst Roets, head of policy and action at AfriForum, said the basic building blocks that have to be put in place to stimulate economic growth, are not addressed by this plan. “These include creating certainty about right of ownership and deregulating the business sector in order to make it easier for entrepreneurs to establish businesses and create jobs.”
Roets also said it was clear that the governing party’s ideological premises were not reconcilable with the practical actions required to stimulate economic growth and that this growth plan also made it clear that the ANC instead preferred to stick to its preconceived ideological ideas.
“It is utopian to state that the government is serious about turning around the economy while it is proceeding with the process of amending the constitution to weaken the right of ownership in South Africa by providing for expropriation of private property without compensation.
“The solution is to be found in decentralising power and making people less dependent on the state. This plan, however, promotes centralisation and state dependence – exactly the opposite of what now needs to be done,” Roets added.
“It is not the coronavirus that has caused so much damage during the past year, but indeed the South African government’s obsession with power. It does not make sense trying to stimulate economic growth while the president and the government are sticking to the same ideological principles that have done so much harm to the economy.”
Read the original article in Afrikaans on AfriForum
South Africa Today – South Africa News
