The South African free-marketeer takes issue with the New Growth Path (NGP), which is being touted by South African President Jacob Zuma's administration as a blueprint for job creation and economic growth: "The NGP reveals the lack of foresight on part of our policymakers. Even after 16 years since the ANC has been in power, there has not been any long-term macro-economic policy that clearly outlines what the end-goal is; how the economy needs to be structured to achieve maximum growth. One would imagine that given the economic structure inherited from the past which was intended for the economic benefit of the white minority, the ANC would have had in 1994 an economic long-term strategy for the country. But none exists. Even the new Department of National Planning has not come up with any concrete proposals other than a Green Paper that simply outlines problems in the economy."
He continues his commentary: "Industrialisation is one of the objectives of NGP. It is a noble aim but the reality renders this futile as high labour costs would ordinarily impact negatively on the competitiveness of manufacturers. Our economic success unquestionably depends on our ability to develop productive capacity. BEE [Black Economic Empowerment program] has only served to recycle wealth and did not do enough to create new wealth by encouraging the emergence of new entrepreneurs and industrialists who establish their own empires without being parasites on white wealth. But before we get there we need to get the basics right."
More commentary from Mr. Diakanyo, about South Africa's economy: "While the mining and agricultural sectors have largely been those sectors that absorbed more unskilled and semi-skilled labour, a concerted effort needs to be made to overhaul the education system to ensure that the skills produced are matched to the economic demands. The quality of education in SA is appalling compared with other BRICS countries [Brazil, Russia, India, and China]."
Discuss "The (No) Growth Path" post here.
SENTLETSE DIAKANYO OP-ED: The (No) Growth Path
