It’s Ramaphosa’s time for action

South Africans are feeling the pinch. The economy is struggling, the rand is bullied, fuel prices are rising at an alarming rate, there is sluggish growth prospects and high levels of unemployment. Something has to give, which is why the stimulus plan announced yesterday by President Cyril Ramaphosa – which will cost R50 billion – has to work. The government would also launch a R400 billion medium-term infrastructure fund.

“As South Africans, we’ve confronted challenges that are far greater than the challenges we are confronting today,” Ramaphosa said. “We are announcing today an economic stimulus and recovery plan. It consists of a range of measures, some financial and some nonfinancial, to be implemented immediately to ignite economic activity and restore investor confidence.”

The plan, set to reignite growth, restore investor confidence and create jobs, will give priority to areas that will have an impact on the youth, women, small businesses, infrastructure and local government. The money will come from reprioritising the budget.

Some experts have labelled the plan as “a political speech”, insisting that only once we have seen the finance minister’s budget next month can we say if we are on the right path to fixing the economy.

Talk is cheap. Ramaphosa and his ministers will be judged on their actions.