Last 5 years a time of recovery, rebuilding – Presidency

Despite assertions of recovery and rebuilding, the reality on the ground paints a far bleaker picture as South Africa finds itself plunging further into turmoil – with economic woes, social unrest and political instability casting a shadow over the nation’s future.

Ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address tomorrow, the Presidency has released the “Leave No One Behind 2024 – A Five Year Review” document which revealed how the last five years has been a time of recovery and rebuilding.

Although seemingly painting a picture of a promising future, experts have noted the current state of the country was uncertain and with the country’s problems deepening ahead of the 2024 elections.

The document noted that over 1.7 million work and livelihood opportunities have been created through the Presidential Employment Stimulus, showing significant progress on measures to grow the economy, create jobs, reduce poverty, tackle corruption and fight crime.

“Some of these measures have already had an impact on people’s lives, while the benefits of others will take a longer time to be felt,” the document noted.

“There is still much work to be done to rebuild our economy, reduce poverty and ensure that all South Africans experience an ever- improving quality of life.”

However, sociologist Prof Karl von Holdt said SA was in a bad place, and noted that a ton of problems regarding Eskom, Transnet and many other state owned enterprises (SOEs) still persisted.

“And just the economic impacts of those SOEs, and therefore the impact on jobs is pretty high. I think there have probably been some progress in some areas under Ramaphosa’s government. I think that they probably are making slow progress.

“But it’s not so easy to point to institutions that work or even the progress made. The ANC has been governing for at least three decades and most of these institutions have reached a state of collapse under their management,” said Von Holdt.

In his note “SA faces another five years of uncertainty” published by News24, political commentator Justice Malala said “as any observer of the South African political economy will tell you, Nelson Mandela’s country is long due a lucky break”.

“Plagued by ‘unimpressive’ economic growth, one of the world’s highest unemployment rates, corruption and failing infrastructure underlined by crippling power blackouts, the country is instead set for at least another five years of political uncertainty, dysfunction and poor economic performance.”

Malala said since 1994, the gross domestic product, under the guidance of Mandela and “the economically savvy Thabo Mbeki”, grew to 5.6% in 2006 from -2.14% in 1992, touching quarterly highs above 7% in 2005.

“Then, with the scandal-plagued Jacob Zuma in power from 2009, the economy slumped under the weight of mismanagement and corruption, registering average growth of 2.1% in his nine-year tenure.

“His successor, Ramaphosa, a billionaire darling of the business community who promised a ‘new dawn’ upon taking over as president in 2018, failed to clear out corruption and has overseen a stagnant economy, record-high unemployment, and a steep deterioration in government finances.”

The 2023 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor South Africa (GEM SA) report released on 1 February raised concerns that the weak economy contributed to the lack of job creation, innovation and technology advancement, and social cohesion.

The report noted that the economy had consistently underperformed and experienced a “low economic growth for more than a decade”.