SA’s economy lags behind

The World Bank data Eustace Davie presented in his article (Former Communist countries have passed SA by opening their markets, September 15) is an eloquent demonstration of how growth and development is synonymous with the reduction of the governments’ role and presence in the economy.

The 12 countries presented have had a GDP per capita growth over the 14 years to 2014 on average of 366%, more than three times that of SA, with 113%.

Some performed spectacularly (more than 500%) by adopting sensible policies of reducing government enterprises, boosting the share of the private sector and reducing trade barriers and compliance costs.

We have everything to learn from these policies.

In SA, the government seems to have not learnt anything from these developments in the world, or from its maladministration of the past two decades.

It is apparent that in SA, the intent is to increase state-owned enterprises’ (SOE) presence in the economy.

The government’s share of the economy went from 17.8% in 2000, to 36.3% in 2014, crowding out the private sector in the process.

The only alternative to their further drag on the economy is to restructure and reduce the role of these SOE.

They have become sources of patronage, dysfunctional hotbeds of intrigue and corruption with a sad record of spiralling losses that consume taxpayer resources.

Alan Mantle Via e-mail