Keep corruption out of SA’S economy
Many of us may not feel particularly upbeat given moribund economic growth and the seemingly endless public parade of corruption and malfeasance that dominates public life, but Ramaphosa seemed undaunted as he launched into an upbeat State of the Nation address.
There was not much to fault in the long list of plans, programmes and intentions that he laid out for almost two hours.
Except, since all of these depend on us having a viable energy supply, he could have dealt with the Eskom issue at or near the beginning of his speech. As it was, he was more than halfway through his speech when the elephant in the room was addressed.
“Security of energy supply is an absolute imperative. Eskom is in crisis and the risks it poses to South Africa are great,” a relaxed Ramaphosa said. “It could severely damage our economic and social development ambitions.”
He then outlined the basis of a plan of some tariff increases, coupled with a drive to break the culture of nonpayment in some municipalities coupled with some fiscal support — without burdening the fiscus with unmanageable debt — to be identified by Finance Minister Tito Mboweni in the forthcoming of our democratic state.”
It is the idea that even as deputy president he did not know the extent of the rot, that many will struggle to believe.
And Ramaphosa understands well that, just as time has not treated Zuma well, time may well still prove unkind to his legacy.
“We only have a few months to go in this administration, and then, boom, a new administration,” he said.
Still, he was upbeat, confident, approaching the coming storms with apparent equanimity. Budget.
Ramaphosa also indicated that some asset sales could be considered.
“As we address the challenges that face Eskom, we also need to safeguard our national fiscal framework, achieve a positive impact on our sovereign credit rating, and pay attention to the rights and obligations of Eskom’s funders,” he said.
As expected, the utility would be developing a new business model to separate its three main activities — generation, transmission and distribution.
For the rest, Ramaphosa ticked many boxes, including establishing a world-class e-visa system, auctioning radio spectrum, putting in new laws to deconcentrate the economy, developing incubators, promoting entrepreneurship and small business, cutting red tape and improving ethical standards within government. Who knows what an honest prosecuting authority can achieve?
There is much to applaud and celebrate, given what Ramaphosa inherited but a year ago. But what is missing is how political parties, especially this ruling party, can reform themselves to be able to discipline their members, no matter how senior, who have been found to be in the cross-hairs of corruption. — Kevin Davie