Phosa: Economic policy decisions ‘suffocating, destroying fabric of society’

Presidential hopeful calls for structural changes to economy

June 23, 2017

Laevelder 2 minutes read

JOHANNESBURG – Haphazard economic policy decisions, “suiting the few and suffocating the dreams of the majority of South Africans”, is destroying the fabric of our societies.

This was the message delivered by Dr Mathews Phosa during his address at the TOPCO Vision 2030 Summit held at the Birchwood hotel on Thursday.

The former ANC treasurer-general and Mpumalanga’s first democratically elected premier believes the economy needed structural changes to implement the National Development Plan (NDP) to give South Africans what they deserve.

“Whenever I read the news or engage with other local and international leaders, the message is the same.

“We are a nation in trouble with very little reputational, economic or political runway left. The global reaction to the ill-timed and ill-considered remarks by the Public Protector regarding the Reserve Bank illustrated that.

“With our investment status recently downgraded – not only our country rating but also our large corporate and institutional businesses – our ability to meet our shared objectives in the NDP is under pressure.

“It is time that we realise that our political actions have far reaching implications for those that are cold in winter. From our kitchens and living rooms, through the boardrooms of small and large organisations, including those of our neighbours, our actions have a negative impact on everybody in our region.

“We should start heeding the advice that we get from our local and foreign investors as well as advice from the rating agencies and the very structures we would like to avoid – the World Bank and the IMF.”

He called for reforms in the labour markets to ensure competition and dramatically enhanced access to skills, a critical evaluation of public sector efficiencies and reducing its cost, evaluating state owned enterprises to turning those around that we need and closing the “corrupt institutions that are robbing us of our scarce resources”. He also wants a fundamental reform of the education and healthcare systems.

“A six percent real growth in our annual GDP is not far fetched – to allow for foreign direct investment in our economy. To achieve this, a restructuring of our economy away from commodities and therefore mining, must become a priority with our policy makers.

“We all know that investment and growth, in that order, goes hand in hand. Why then the refusal by our own companies to invest and grow locally? Why are our corporations all moving their investments offshore, or at best, thinking of moving it there?

“Destructive and sudden structural policy reforms, such as those included in the new mining charter by the mining minister (Mosebenzi Zwane) last week, will bring investment flight and a risk of further economic slowdown in the economy. The only outcome is higher poverty rates and lower economic growth.

“I am, like every other South African, am demanding that the President and all those associated with the economic crimes that they have committed in the name of governance go. Go Now!

“We have not seen this level of criminality and greed in the history of South Africa, all in the name of a protected psychopathic family and a government predominantly guided by a bunch of imported gangsters.

“I think I speak for all of us when I say that we don’t deserve this South Africa. We cannot tolerate it any longer. We deserve change, growth, political stability and job creation.”