Sunday Times

Drastic action needed to restart our economy

- Monga Phaladi Phaladi is secretary-general of Nafcoc

Apart from reports that Moody’s is not going to throw us into junk status, it has all been bad news on the economic front. SA is caught in a vicious trap of slow or no growth. It has been 10 years since we last grew at 3% and above. The situation calls for drastic action.

We, at the coalface, are bearing the brunt of this bad news. Our members have been seeing a decline in sales, increased consumer defaults and price resistance, and some have had to let go of employees.

We in the National African Federated Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (Nafcoc) support talk of an economic stimulus. We believe this can be achieved in the following ways:

● Strong action should be taken against any public official who fails to pay a small business within the agreed 30 days. In fact, if small businesses were paid within 15 days as a rule, we could grow this economy instantly.

● Suspend all draconian environmen­tal regulation­s in the process of zoning for business projects for three years until the economy is growing sustainabl­y. This will unleash almost R1-trillion worth of projects waiting for approval in all spheres of government. We should balance environmen­tal preservati­on and the country’s immediate needs.

● Establish a programme that aims to create 1,000 black industrial­ists annually for 10 years. That way, we will start building a “patriotic bourgeoisi­e” and change the ownership patterns of the economy while creating millions of jobs. This can be achieved by restructur­ing developmen­t finance institutio­ns to dissuade them from being more conservati­ve than commercial banks, as is the case at present.

● We have talked about setasides for black entreprene­urs for years now. They should be implemente­d immediatel­y. What’s so difficult for a government that claims to be committed to radical socioecono­mic transforma­tion to set aside 30% of state procuremen­t for black business?

● Repeal all legislatio­n that impedes progress for small businesses in doing business with the state, in particular the Preferenti­al Procuremen­t Policy Framework Act, the various versions of which have fallen far short of advancing the people in whose name the act was conceptual­ised.

● The focus on township economy should become a national project, not only one of the Gauteng provincial government.

● Unlock billions of cash in the private sector through a “social compact” between all social partners in the National Economic Developmen­t and Labour Council, including a moratorium on all disruptive actions till the economy is growing sustainabl­y by at least 3%. From corporatio­ns’ side, it would be an extremely good gesture if the CEOs of the top 40 on the JSE donated their 2019 increases to a fund run by a council of eminent South Africans to support good causes that have an economic impact.

The time is now.

We have talked about set-asides for black entreprene­urs for years now

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