By Mafika Siphiwe Mgcina
Something urgent must be done to take our economy out of this crisis.
President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled his economy recovery plan and among the key pillars of the plan is the rehashing of strategies of previous economic plans.
Since our democratic dispensation, we have witnessed our government’s unveiling of economic documents. These include the Reconstruction Development Plan, the Growth Employment and Redistribution, Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa and the National Development Plan.
They all have a common denominator – roll out massive infrastructure projects, deal with energy security, have reliable, efficient accessible transport, extend the public works programme, rationalise state-owned enterprises, promote and buy local, ensure food security and promote tourism.
The missing link in all the policies is our inability as a country to assess and introspect about our failures, the bottlenecks and the impediments that have stifled full implementation of the plans.
We always believed that unveiling and introducing a new economic policy would deal with the elephant in the room which is low economic growth, massive unemployment, inequality and poverty.
We need to go back to the drawing board and thoroughly and honestly reflect and confront our demon – the lack of political will to confront difficult issues, coupled with our inability to implement and put achievable and attainable time frames in place.
The president must look at the team he has in the national executive and answer the difficult question about whether his team is fit for purpose and capable to deliver.
The ANC’s internal strife won’t take our economy out of the doldrums. The problems require the president lead from the front and help the country in a way that will translate into economic growth and jobs creation, as well as deal with inequality and poverty. The ripple effect to implement the economic recovery plan will be the change in the electoral fortune of the ANC, for the better.
The Star