Avoid Venezuela’s path

On July 10, the ANC met to reaffirm its commitment to the national democratic revolution. A delegation of Venezuelan officials was present at the meeting to discuss policy and how SA can continue down the socialist path.

Knowing what is happening in Venezuela, I can’t help but find the chumminess between our governing party and this self-avowed socialist state quite terrifying.

Over the past few years Venezuela’s economy has crashed to lows comparable to wartime. This is clearly a result of an economic system that disrespects private property, the rule of law and the prosperity of free markets.

Countless people have died of starvation and a lack of basic medical care due to Venezuela’s experiments in socialism. In 2016 alone more than 11,000 children under the age of one died. People are eating their beloved pets, and when the animals run out the country may go down the path of communist China, which faced one of the worst famines in history, driving people to eat their own family members.

The ANC and Venezuela continue to blame their woes on US aggression, but they only have themselves to blame. They are the ones playing with policies that have historically always failed.

We can only hope that the ANC does not follow the path of Venezuela, but policies such as expropriation without compensation do not fill me with confidence. We shouldn’t be playing with the essential parts of the economy that enable humans to not only survive, but flourish. This isn’t a game. It is time our policymakers realised this.

Nicholas Woode-Smith

Cape Town