The DA’s pathway out of poverty for SA
Why did the DA flight an advertisement this week showing the flag burning? Because it’s time for some hard truths to be told.
Our country is burning. The elections on May 29 is do or die for South Africa. Only voters can put out the fire. Nothing exemplifies this raging fire better than unemployment, which has grown from 20% in 1994 to 32% now — or 42% if you include those who’ve given up looking for a job.
The youth are the worst affected, with 70% of young people aged 15 to 24 unable to find work. As a result, more than 30-million South Africans are trapped in poverty, and crime is out of control. Without meaningful economic reform that makes it easy and attractive to do business in South Africa, things are going to get a whole lot worse. An inescapable fact is that the only thing that creates sustainable jobs is investment in productive enterprises. A vibrant small business sector is also crucial.
But South Africa has a low domestic savings rate, so to grow our economy and create real jobs at scale we need huge foreign investment. Yet we’re seeing the opposite. South Africa has become uninvestable owing to the ANC’s statist policies. Just this week, international energy conglomerate Shell said it was divesting from our country because of the hostile investment environment.
This followed the news that BNP Paribas, the largest bank in the eurozone, will be exiting South Africa for the same reason. Over the past decade, more than R1-trillion has left our shores, as a result of investors fleeing the ANC’s controlling approach towards running the economy. This wave of disinvestment will become a tsunami under an ANC/EFF/MK/PA coalition that will double down on hopelessly unworkable statist policies. Millions of jobs are at stake. But there is a clear alternative.
The DA’s economic plan prioritises job creation at scale to provide unemployed South Africans with a pathway out of poverty. We are confident it will create 2-million new jobs in South Africa during the 2024-29 term. Our wide-ranging policies have been modelled and costed, so when we say we can create 2-million new jobs we have the calculations to back up our assertions.
The DA’s recommendations focus on making it easier for businesses to start, operate, grow and employ more people. We cannot force employers to hire more people rather than invest in a machine to do the work, but we can incentivise them to do so by making it easy for them to employ people.
Similarly, we cannot force foreign companies to invest in South Africa — we can only lure them to our shores by being competitive in the global economy. A central element of the DA’s economic plan is to reform labour policies to boost competitiveness, investment and job creation. Our recommendations aim to strike a fairer balance between the interests of workers and those of South Africa’s 12-million voiceless unemployed citizens.
This means creating a fairer balance between the interests of trade unions and those of employers. The hard truth is that unions have contributed significantly to South Africa’s unemployment crisis and stagnant economy. The ANC’s close relationship with Cosatu has meant it can lobby government officials directly in a way employers and the unemployed cannot.
This has locked in place unproductive policies that prioritise the interests of union bosses and unionised workers over those of the millions of voiceless, unemployed citizens. Every time a strike takes place, a tremendous economic cost is incurred not only by employers but also by the unemployed, because industrial unrest deters investment and suppresses job creation.
Strikes play a legitimate role in the economy, but unions must be held accountable for violence that harms people and property. A DA government will require unions to deposit an amount of money with an appropriate independent body before they can embark on legal strike action. Any damage caused during strikes will be paid for out of that deposit. Unions that repeatedly behave violently will be required to deposit larger sums ahead of strikes.
The fact is, union bosses have deep financial interests in South Africa’s economy and need to be held to an appropriate level of accountability. This must include requiring them to publish their audited financial statements each year so the public can view them. Union officials must disclose their earnings in their annual report just as CEOs are required to do, and unions that are not tax-compliant must not be allowed to call a strike.
Realistically, the ANC is never going to stand up to the unions and restore a fairer balance for the unemployed. Many of the most influential ANC politicians were trade unionists before entering politics, including President Cyril Ramaphosa, Gwede Mantashe, Ebrahim Patel, Thulas Nxesi, Aaron Motsoaledi and Senzo Mchunu.
They will always prioritise powerful organised labour over powerless, voiceless, jobless citizens. But this approach ultimately hurts even those it is intended to help. The mother with a safe, unionised job must support her young adult children because they are locked out of the economy.
Union numbers are falling because the economy is on the ropes and unemployment is so high. The ANC is dying because it has failed to create a better life for all. As voters, we must ask ourselves the following questions: Do we want policies that sound good, or those that work? Do we want policies that benefit a lucky few, or those that help everyone? Do we want economic decisions to be made by people who pay no price for being wrong, or by those whose lives and livelihoods depend on their making the right decisions? Do we want 2-million new jobs or spiralling unemployment?