Economy needs more than phrases

RADICAL economic transformation is another one of those phrases that strikes fear into its foes, hope to the hopeless – and ends up disappointing everyone. It’s been bandied about ever since President Jacob Zuma addressed the State of the Nation at the opening of Parliament earlier this year, but there has been no policy document explaining what it is and – crucially – no budget set aside for the key aspect of any radical economic transformation, the nationalisation of business and the expropriation of land.

Land is a hair-trigger issue in this country – and rightfully so.

The restitution process has been, with very few exceptions, a parlous failure conducted at great expense, ignoring the salient fact that some of the biggest landholders are the state itself and the swathes of undemocratic, hereditary chiefs and chieftains who hold land arbitrarily for their kinsfolk.

The transformation of the economy is another red-letter issue. After more than two decades, business should be transformed, both in terms of ownership and management – most importantly, there should be more jobs being created in the formal sector.

Sadly, the economic travails of this nation – much of which is linked to the global economic crisis – mean that companies are shrinking, shedding jobs and downsizing, leading to the ever-growing pool of unemployed and unemployable.

As a result, more than 16 million South Africans live in extreme poverty.

For South Africa to even begin to achieve its full potential, not just for its citizens but the entire continent, we need to transform both our land and corporate ownership structures radically.

There are very few people who will disagree with that. There is both a moral and an economic imperative at stake here, but we can only do this with a structured plan based on principles and buyin from all involved parties.

The truth of the matter, though, is that in the current tsunami of battle cries, there are few plans, less consultation, no principle and far too much expediency.

There will be no transformation this way – only heightened expectations born to fail and the very real chance of destroying the little that we do have that could provide the critical impetus for the future.