Our ruling party is expected to benefit electorally from its anti-corruption efforts, while legal forms of patronage sink the economy. Basic income grant (BIG) debates can, and must, reset our politics. Whereas little effort is needed to appreciate tenderpreneurial looting, the damage done by South Africa’s legal forms of patronage is greater but less obvious.…Continue reading How BIG debates can squash BEE

That the international coverage of chaos in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng was superseded by the assassination of Haiti’s president was not totally random. Liberation movements don’t easily spawn demanding citizens.   The large island that Christopher Columbus named ‘Little Spain’ eventually ousted its French and Spanish colonial masters. Later, the island was divided into two countries, the…Continue reading Breaking the ANC’s lock on the electorate

Where is the evidence that the ANC’s goals have changed? To party elders, Zuma’s unforgivable sin was his electoral toxicity. Echoing past injustices, systemic patronage is being adorned with false legislative legitimacy. South Africa’s path to sustained high growth will remain inaccessible in the absence of core policy reversals. Conversely, the style of the Ramaphosa-led…Continue reading When small successes deceive

Asia is now the centre of global growth, as it converted massive poverty into the world’s most populous middle class. Circumstances across this country and region are the opposite. Policies matter. It’s no longer the West versus the rest. East and West integrated to form a global juggernaut which pummelled the planet’s poverty. Consequently, the…Continue reading Our debates miss the big picture

Tools McDonalds uses for investing should guide Ramaphosa in unlocking the economy’s potential through policy pivots 27 JUNE 2021 Business Day Restaurant chains such as McDonalds assess an area’s disposable income, purchasing patterns and the competitive environment before expanding their operations. Such tools must guide how President Cyril Ramaphosa unlocks the economy’s potential through policy…Continue reading Amid a cash-flush world, political rhetoric makes expensive projects unviable

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently said: ‘We are going to have to go for growth in a big and exponential way, and be willing and be brave and courageous enough to massify whatever needs to be done, because playing around on the edges with whatever efforts we are making – that time is over now.’   To…Continue reading Why South Africa has been lacking a growth plan

China’s challenging the world order presents profound risks and opportunities for South Africa. Our policies must blend a realistic worldview with fluency in 21st century economic development basics. Our political elites are strangers to both. China’s world-changing economic success reflects their prioritising: value-added exporting; competitiveness; importing – and developing locally – skills and knowledge; eradicating…Continue reading SA’s cold war plan

Leaders cannot offer a viable plan to boost the economy because they accept today’s political dynamics President Cyril Ramaphosa seems to be gaining the upper hand within his party, and the pandemic is set to retreat. If optimism is justified, what 2030 unemployment rate should we target? Or should we rather focus on the consequences of…Continue reading Government steals youth’s future by shunning export-led growth

Criticism of the party Nelson Mandela personified had been restrained until Jacob Zuma appointed, briefly, a lackey as finance minister. So how can it be that, despite whirlwinds of corruption and incompetence, five years later our ruling party can still deflect or ignore the fallout from its destructive policies and practices? The disturbing answer is…Continue reading Harness inequality and science to create jobs

Competitiveness and global integration are the way forward, not redistribution None of our leaders has produced a viable growth plan, yet many support ramping up infrastructure projects to spark jobs and growth. While it is unrealistic for any country to expect infrastructure investments to spur growth without a plan, SA has special challenges. If we…Continue reading Infrastructure spending is no magic bullet without a growth plan