The fact that South Africa has been in darkness for more than 2 400 hours (equal to 100 days) in 2022 alone due to load shedding once again proves that sustainable economic growth under the ANC government is wishful thinking.
At a cumulative 2 400 hours with an average of stage 3 load shedding, the damage to the economy this year currently amounts R68,4 billion while the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has contracted with a further 0,7%.
The detrimental impact of load shedding is already greater than the damage the economy suffered as a result of the restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Between 2014 and 2019, state capture and corruption looted the South African economy of approximately R1,5 trillion.
Racially motivated Affirmative Action (AA) and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) totally failed to accomplish the initial goal of empowerment. Cadre deployment has created a handful of millionaires and billionaires at the expense of a growing mass of unemployed citizens.
The Competition Tribunal, which is supposed to police monopolies in the South African economy, is increasingly being exploited by the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition to enforce racial quotas.
One example is the recent takeover of Burger King where the entire takeover transaction was put on ice until a greater percentage black empowerment was achieved.
The FF Plus welcomes the wake-up call by the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, during his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in Parliament last week to all government departments to ensure that appointments and procurement take place based on merit.
This stands in stark contrast to the empowerment considerations that simply resulted in the looting of state coffers.
The Minister’s call, however, directly opposes the more stringent racially motivated quotas implemented by the ANC government and the beggar culture cultivated by the ruling party since 1994.
The FF Plus has opposed racially motivated Affirmative Action and empowerment legislation ever since the South African Constitution was adopted in 1996. It is encouraging to see that more and more organisations are starting to realise its absurdity.
Sustainable job creation and economic recovery can only happen if appointments and procurement take place based on merit to grow the economy.
The ANC government must be replaced in 2024 by a healthy, multiparty coalition government, which has the private sector’s support, and will guarantee a market-orientated economy and property rights.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Jaco Mulder on FF Plus
