Letter: How shall we avoid the pain?

Democratic Alliance KZN spokesperson on economic development, Ann McDonnell, MPL, says ordinary South Africans should be alarmed: The Democratic Alliance is alarmed by the country’s shrinking economic performance, with growth projections having dropped from 2.2% to just over 1%.

This while the unemployment among our youth is over 50%.

Equally concerning is the data released by Stats SA late last week which shows that during the first quarter of the year, manufacturing decreased by 1.6% while mining production decreased by 3.4%. Both sectors are significant contributors to the GDP.

As if this were not bad enough, within this perfect storm the ANC then saw fit to increase VAT by 1% while the petrol price, consisting mainly of levies, leapt to a record high.

To top it all off, the ‘can of worms’ that is Eskom revealed billions of rands worth in losses, with irregular expenditure totalling almost R20billion.

Yet cadre board members were rewarded with ‘golden handshakes’ rather than the jail terms they deserve. All this spells more pain for ordinary South Africans, in particular the poor.

Yet government continues to ignore their pleas.

One of these cries is for law and order as crime in our country continues unchecked. The recent massacre of 11 people travelling in a mini-bus taxi on KZN’s roads is just one example of the lawlessness that abounds.

Then there are the attempts to create chaos by illegally blockading roads – incidents which are taking place more frequently than ever.

These are the kinds of news stories that end up in the international media and which will be the death knell of foreign direct investment so desperately needed to create jobs.

The time has come for ordinary South Africans to say ‘enough!’.

Their message must be clear – that they will no longer tolerate a government which allows our economy and ultimately our growth to be harmed.

This same message that needs to be conveyed to the representatives of BRICS countries, who are currently in South Africa, as well as to other potential investors. This is urgent.